


Ensuring Discipline

by hummerhouse



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003)
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst, Complete, M/M, Mental Coercion, Non-Consensual Bondage, Oral Sex, Psychological Torture, Rape/Non-con Elements, TMNT, Threats, Turtlecest, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-09
Updated: 2015-07-24
Packaged: 2018-04-08 12:04:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 16
Words: 67,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4304307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hummerhouse/pseuds/hummerhouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Disclaimer: The TMNT are not mine. No money being made.<br/>Word Count: 68,044<br/>Rating: NC-17 Contains TCest and non-consensual adult situations<br/>Pairing: Leo/Don<br/>Summary: The power of leadership goes to Leonardo's head and he acts it out on the one brother who usually obeys him without question.<br/>Some of the Fan Art attached to this story is EXPLICIT - NSFW</p><p>~~This story is VERY dark and contains situations that can be extremely unsettling.  There is NO character death and no one is physically maimed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

            Practice had been underway for almost ten minutes when Donatello rushed into the dojo.  Leonardo turned away from the two brothers who were going through their katas to glare at the one who hadn’t arrived on time.

            Don didn’t wait for Leo to speak.  “I’m sorry, Leo.  I had to wait for the distilled water to boil down on the test I’m running and it took longer than I thought it would.”

            “If there was a chance the test would interfere with the beginning of practice, you should not have started it,” Leo said icily.  “This is your priority.”

            “I’m really, really sorry,” Don said contritely, bowing to Leo and running over to where Raph and Mikey still practiced.  “I’ll do better about watching the time.”

            Leo didn’t say anything else, but his narrowed eyes were fixed on Donatello for the rest of practice.  Every mistake that Don made was painstakingly pointed out to him and by the time the session had ended, the genius was both mentally and physically exhausted.

            When the bright banded turtles left the dojo, Leo pulled Don aside and made him run through his forms for an additional quarter of an hour.

            “Stop,” Leo called.  As Don eased back to attention, Leo walked up to stand in front of him.

            “Sensei is going to be gone for an indefinite length of time,” Leo said, his face an emotionless mask.  “Before he left, he made it clear to all of us that I was the Master of this clan in his absence.  You remember that, don’t you?”

            “Of course I do,” Don said.

            “He also said it was my responsibility to ensure that our routines were not to be interfered with or changed unless there was an emergency.  Do you also remember those words?” Leo asked.

            “Yes, Leo, I know what he said, but this was just ten . . . .” Don began.

            “No,” Leo interrupted, lifting a hand.  “Today was ten minutes.  Yesterday was five.  Two mornings ago you were seven minutes late.  Raphael hasn’t been late one time since Master Splinter left and even Michelangelo was late just once.”

            “You made him scrub the floors throughout the dojo on his hands and knees for the rest of the day,” Don said.  “I think staying up too late watching old horror movies is a poor excuse for sleeping through half of practice too.  The reasons for my being tardy are tied directly into the welfare and safety of our family.”

            “How many times were you late for practice when Master Splinter was in charge?” Leo asked as he folded his arms across his plastron.

            Don had to stop and think about the question.  None of them, with the exception of Leonardo, made it to practice on time every time, but being late was certainly not habitual.

            “A few times I guess,” Don admitted, “but not very often.”

            “Were you penalized?” Leo asked.

            “Only if I didn’t have a legitimate excuse,” Don told him.  “Sometimes I had to make up time as with you today, other times he treated me to a lecture on the subject of promptness.”

            “Being prompt isn’t just a sign of respect, Donatello,” Leo said.  “It is a practice that is necessary when one works inside of a team structure.  If being tardy here becomes a habit, that habit could carry over into the field.”

            “I’ve never been late for a mission,” Don protested.

            “Bad habits form easily,” Leo continued as though Don hadn’t spoken.  “In the ten days since Master Splinter left on his journey, you have been late for practice six of them.  That percentage is certainly higher than it has ever been; which makes me wonder if you don’t respect my leadership.”

            Don’s eyes widened.  “Of course I do,” he said.  “I’ve always followed you without question and done everything that’s been asked of me.”

            Leo took a deep breath, raking his eyes over Don’s body before lifting them back up to meet his brother’s dark orbs.  Don thought he saw a swirl of some new type of emotion behind Leo’s amber gaze, but it settled quickly.  However, the brief glimpse was slightly unsettling.

            “Very well,” Leo said.  “Today I’ll let you off with this verbal warning.  Don’t be late for another practice session or the punishment I’ll mete out will address your lack of deference.”

            Donatello wasn’t late again for the next four mornings.  At practice, he worked hard so that Leo would know he was taking his brother’s leadership to heart.

            On the fifth morning, Don’s alarm clock failed to awaken him.  The sounds of his brother’s workout pushed his eyelids open and he twisted his head around to see that he was already fifteen minutes late.

            Scrambling out of bed, he tugged on his gear as quickly as possible and bolted out of his room.  A quick glance at the clock had shown him that the alarm was in the ‘off’ position, so either he hadn’t set it, or he’d turned it off without conscious thought.

            His arrival in the dojo was met by a frown from his oldest brother and glances of dismay from the other two.  Swiftly taking his place, he chose to forego the explanations until after practice was finished.

            When Raph and Mikey were dismissed, they left the dojo with alacrity, both throwing looks of consternation in Don’s direction.  Don could not imagine why his getting into trouble would cause those two such concern; normally they didn’t think twice about one of their brothers being called out for bad behavior.

            The look on Leo’s face pulled Don’s mind back to his present predicament.  Whatever punishment Leo meant to give him would have to be obeyed; it was Don’s duty to his leader and Master.

            In a low voice, Don said, “I know that being late is inexcusable, but my alarm didn’t wake me.  It was turned off for some reason.”

            “Turning it on is your responsibility,” Leo said.  “Doing whatever is necessary to arrive on time is your responsibility.  After our last discussion, I thought those things were clear to you.”

            “They were; they are,” Don told him.  “I’ve put aside some of my experiments in order to be on time, I don’t start anything late at night, and I’m working hard when I’m here.”

            “And still you arrive late,” Leo said in what sounded almost like a satisfied tone of voice.  “In order to maintain discipline I have to punish you just as I do the others.  I can’t show preferential treatment no matter the excuse.”

            Slightly exasperated, Don said, “Fine.  Do whatever you have to.”

            A thin smile etched Leo’s lips.  “Come upstairs.”

            Confused, Don followed Leo up to the second floor of their home.  As he climbed the stairs, he looked back and saw Mikey and Raph watching them from the kitchen doorway.  Both wore blank expressions.

            Leo entered his bedroom and waited for Don to cross the threshold.  Once his younger brother was inside, Leo closed the door carefully, engaging the lock as he did so.

            Don stood just inside the room and watched as Leo passed him, going over to the bed and taking a seat on the end of it.

            “Set your bo staff aside,” Leo said.

            Doing as directed, Don leaned his staff against a wall and turned back to Leo.  His brother was watching him through hooded eyes and Don felt a growing sense of apprehension.

            “On your knees, Donatello,” Leo ordered, his voice more guttural than normal.

            Completely perplexed, Don went down to his knees on the stone floor, noting that Leo’s eyes followed his movements avidly.  Don wanted to ask what Leo was doing, but something in Leo’s expression made the younger turtle swallow his curiosity.

            “Come closer,” Leo told him.  Don’s brow furrowed and he started to stand, but Leo said, “Stay on your knees.”

            Once more firmly on the ground, Don scooted forward, walking on his knees.  As he neared Leo, his brother opened his legs wide, his posture straight and his hands on the mattress next to his hips.

            “That’s right, Donny,” Leo said, “all the way up to the bed.”

            Don stopped when his plastron touched the edge of the mattress.  He looked up at Leo expectantly, sure that his brother was now going to lecture him about tardiness and the need for punctuality while making Don remain in this uncomfortable and somewhat embarrassing position.

            “You were late and therefore my schedule for the day has been thrown off,” Leo began.  “I’m sticky from dried sweat; my own and that from the three of you as we sparred.  Normally I would have had the opportunity to shower, but since I didn’t get that chance, you are going to take care of cleaning me off.”

            Puzzled, Don glanced around, looking for a bucket and washcloth.  When he saw nothing, he looked back up into Leo’s eyes, instantly disconcerted by the strange glow emanating from his brother’s amber gaze.

            “You’re going to clean me with your tongue,” Leo said, eyes flashing.

            “Wh . . . what?” Don stuttered, unsure if he’d heard his brother correctly.

            “You’ve sworn an oath to this family and clan, Donatello,” Leo said.  “You must obey my orders unquestioningly.  Open your mouth and lick my scutes.  _Now_!”

            The last word was issued in a loud bark and Don jumped.  Quivering slightly, Don’s lips parted and his tongue flicked over them before he leaned forward.  Don’s eyes darted up to Leo’s and then quickly came down, his brother’s avid stare frightening him.

            Don tentatively touched Leo’s upper plastron with his tongue, the hard material rough against Don’s sensitive flesh.  He gave the scute a short lick, tasting sweat, dirt, and the residuals left behind by sandalwood smoke.

            “Keep going,” Leo ordered, his tone deeper.

            Inhaling quickly, Don set his tongue against Leo’s plastron and painted a long swipe along it.  He thought he heard a sound come from Leo’s chest, but didn’t look up because he could feel his brother’s eyes on him.

            Forcing himself to remain as detached as possible, Don set to work cleansing Leo’s plastron with his tongue.  While he licked his brother’s scutes, Don’s mind worked to try and find a reason behind Leo’s unusual behavior.

            When he reached his brother’s stomach, Don stopped and began to lean away, certain his lesson was complete.  Before he could go far, Leo reached out and snagged the back of Don’s neck, holding him in place.

            “You aren’t finished,” Leo said, his voice more breathy than usual.

            This time Don did look up into his brother’s eyes.  He could feel a slight tremor run through Leo’s fingers where they touched Don’s skin and the younger turtle knew then that his brother was serious.

            Lowering his head, Don looked at Leo’s lower scutes for a long moment.  What Leo was ordering him to do was beyond the realm of Don’s understanding and he could feel his mind rebelling.

            “You will not disobey me Hamato Donatello,” Leo hissed, his fingers tightening on Don’s neck.  “I am Master here and you will learn to know your place.”

            Adding pressure, Leo pushed Don downwards.  After a second of resistance, Don drew a shuddering breath and began to lick.

            Leo’s hand fell away and he leaned back, widening his knees further.  Don could now hear a low rumbling sound coming from his brother, but rather than trying to see what Leo was doing, Don concentrated on cleaning Leo’s plastron.

            Working from the sides inwards, Don licked every inch of hard plate on Leo’s lower body, even along the edges where plastron met thigh.  The only spot he studiously avoided was the area containing softer cartilage in the lower center of Leo’s plastron.

            To his dismay, Don had watched that area begin to bulge outward as Don’s tongue moved around it.  Leo’s breathing had quickened, something Don noticed from the more rapid rise and fall of the scutes under his mouth.  Though Don had tried not to excite his brother, he knew the reaction to a warm tongue in that sensitive area was inevitable.

            “I’m all done, Leo,” Don said quickly, once more trying to pull away and escape a situation that was beginning to make his head reel.

            “The lesson isn’t over,” Leo said, his voice harsh.  There was another sound beneath the hoarse words; something hungry and determined.

            “I licked your plastron just as you asked,” Don said, talking fast.  “I cleaned all of your scutes.”

            “Not all,” Leo said.  “You’ve missed a spot.”

            Squirming, Don said, “Leo, I . . . I . . . you can’t mean to make me  . . . .”

            “Your tongue, Donatello,” Leo said with cold determination.  “Lick me now.”

            Still Don hesitated, until he heard Leo say, “Do you wish for further punishment?”

            “No Leo, I . . . .” Don began.

            “Master,” Leo corrected.  “I am your Master.  Disobedience won’t be tolerated.”

            Donatello never thought that Leo’s voice could frighten him so badly.  Leaning down, Don touched his tongue to the bulge in his brother’s plastron and began to lick the swollen area.

            With each pass of his tongue, Don could feel Leo tremble.  The slit began to open and within seconds, Don knew that he was no longer licking plastron, but that his tongue was playing along the side of Leonardo’s penis.

            An audible sound escaped Leo’s chest and Don recognized it as a churr, a sound that usually denoted arousal.  Disgusted with himself, Donatello continued to lick his brother’s growing erection until it escaped confinement and slid into the open.

            Don stopped his ministrations once more, frozen in place with his eyes glued to Leonardo’s cock. 

            “The lesson isn’t over,” Leo said slowly and distinctly.  “Whatever I tell you to do; whatever command I give, you will obey without question or hesitation.  I’m not completely clean yet, Donatello.  Finish the job.”

            Don’s head started to shake as his mouth opened.  He placed his tongue against the underside of Leo’s cock and swiped upwards, licking his way to the tip.  Repeating the process, Don made his way all around Leo’s erection, drawing churrs of pleasure from his brother.

            The tip of Leo’s cock had begun to leak precome and the fluid dripped onto Don’s tongue as he worked.  The taste was at once salty and bitter, and Don tried to pull his thoughts away from that, hoping that Leo would finally deem the lesson learned and allow Don to escape the situation with some dignity.

            From the way his brother was panting, Don began to get a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.  Licking and sucking along the sides of the thick shaft, Don tried to bring his brother off without going near the head of Leo’s cock.

            “Do it right, Don,” Leo husked, his voice guttural with lust.  “Swallow it.  No more stalling.”

            Closing his eyes, Don’s mouth crept higher until he felt the rounded tip beneath his tongue.  Flicking it across the slit elicited a gasp from his brother and Don repeated the maneuver, thinking he might get lucky and open the flood gates prematurely.

            He hadn’t taking into account Leo’s iron will.  “Go down on it, Donatello.  I want to be completely satisfied with your work.  Suck me off; do it,” Leo demanded.

            Breathing noisily, Don opened his mouth wide and lowered it over Leo’s cock.  Almost immediately, Leo’s hands came up to grip the sides of his younger brother’s head.  Whatever Don’s plans were for accomplishing Leo’s orders, they were moot now as Leo began to direct Don’s movements.

            After a few moments Leo began to grow more excited, his hips thrusting to grind his manhood into Don’s mouth and his hands shoving Don’s head further down on his groin.  The tip of Leo’s cock bounced against the back of Don’s throat, setting off his gag reflex before his brother allowed him to pull away briefly, then the process was repeated until Don felt his eyes rolling back in his head.

            Gripping Leo’s calves tightly, Don forced himself to relax as much as possible, knowing that tightening his throat would make things worse.  Just as the feeling of choking and lack of oxygen began to make him desperate, Don felt Leo’s cock twist in his mouth and his brother came.

            Head held down by Leo’s strong grip, Don was unable to pull away.  The flood of warmth in his mouth splashed against the back of his throat and he reflexively swallowed and continued to swallow because his brother wouldn’t release him.

            In a few moments it was over.  Leo’s cock began to dwindle inside Don’s mouth and the older brother let go of the younger one’s head.

            Don yanked his head back with a loud gasp and then began to cough, choking on the semen that he’d been forced to swallow.

            “Keep it down,” Leo said, his voice low and caressing.  “That’s part of the lesson, Donatello.  You’ve received your punishment and must be accepting of it.  If you spit up any of my ejaculate I’ll be forced to repeat this lesson from the beginning.”

            Sliding a shaking hand across his lips, Don worked to get his emotions under control.  He knew his brother was serious and he did not want to be forced to give Leo another blow job.

            Leo stood up and inhaled deeply.  Stepping around to Don’s side, he laid his hand gently on top of Don’s head and began to pet him softly.

            “Your punishment is complete,” Leo said.  “Don’t be late for practice again, Donatello.  The next time I won’t be quite so lenient.”

            Walking over to the door, Leo unlocked and opened it.  Don struggled to gain his feet and stood there swaying for a moment as Leo retrieved his bo staff and handed it to him.

            “You’re dismissed,” Leo said.  “I trust we completely understand one another now?”

            “Yes,” Don answered in a near whisper.

            “Yes, what?”  Leo stared at him, a slight smile curving his lips.

            “Yes, Master,” Don said, his mouth quivering as he stumbled out of the room.

TBC………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This provocative image was created by the very gifted ashitarimai.  
> 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 5,527  
> Rating: NC-17 Contains TCest and non-consensual adult situations  
> Pairing: Leo/Don  
> Summary: The power of leadership goes to Leonardo's head and he acts it out on the one brother who usually obeys him without question.

            To Donatello, the rest of the day following Leo’s ‘punishment’ was surreal.

            Leo hadn’t said anything to Don regarding not telling his brothers about his punishment, but he didn’t need to.  If the shame hadn’t been enough to keep the genius’ mouth shut, Mike and Raph’s behavior certainly was.  They seemed to be avoiding him, and any time Don accidently came across one of the two, they would flash him an insincere smile or give him a brief nod.

            It was almost as if there was some unspoken new rule about associating with the bad kid, and Don was currently holding down that role.  As far as Leo’s behavior went, he seemed to be in high good humor for the remainder of the day.  If he noticed that all three of his siblings were quieter than normal, he certainly didn’t act like it.

            Don spent as much time as he could inside his lab.  Immediately upon leaving Leo’s room, the genius brother had made straight for the bathroom, where he had scrubbed out his mouth vigorously enough to bruise his gums.  After gargling and brushing for a good thirty minutes, Don came to the conclusion that the bad taste that was still in his mouth was the psychological after effects of what had just happened to him.

            He was tempted to shove his finger down his throat to expel what he’d been forced to swallow, but Don was terribly afraid Leo would know he’d done that.  The threat of a repeat performance was enough to make Don control his roiling stomach.

            Snagging a box of crackers from the kitchen along with a thermos filled with coffee, Don had made his escape to his sanctuary.  Inside, he locked the door and collapsed into his chair, pouring the black liquid into his mug with a shaking hand.

            After he managed to drink half of it, he ripped open the cracker box, shredding the outer cardboard container in a fit of rage.  Yanking open the inner plastic bag quickly, Don ignored the crackers that fell to the floor and began shoving the little salty squares into his mouth.

            Don could almost feel his brother’s seed sitting in his stomach, sickening him with shame.  If he wasn’t allowed to expel it one way, he would soak it up with crackers and send it out of his body in the other direction.

            He stopped eating when he started to become slightly nauseous, fearful that he’d gone too far and his stomach would reject the contents on its own.  Don’s hands were still shaking as he shoved the crackers aside, setting his arms on his desk and lowering his head onto them.

            Humiliation and betrayal became his overriding emotions then and hot tears leaked from his eyes.    He thought that there had to have been something he could do, some way to stop what had happened, but he hadn’t even seen any warning signs to start with.

            Don had felt a bit lost when Master Splinter had announced his intentions to use the Nexus portal to go on a journey of discovery, telling his children that they were old enough to care for themselves in his absence.

            Master Splinter had made it clear that Leonardo was now Master as well as leader, and that he expected the other three siblings to honor, obey, and respect Leonardo’s advanced position in the family.

            Their Father had spoken to each of them individually and Don had no idea what he’d said to the others.  To Donatello, their Father had encouraged a continuation of the unfaltering support he’d always shown Leo.  Master Splinter had said that there would certainly be difficulties as both Raph and Mikey tended towards a head strong attitude when it came to being told what to do, but that he expected Don to stand with the oldest in presenting a united front.

            Don had of course promised his sensei that he would fully support Leonardo and help in whatever way possible.  There had been no mention of how long Master Splinter expected to be gone, and when Mikey had directly asked the question as their Father prepared to step into the portal, it had gone unanswered.

            Now Don wondered if Master Splinter had told Leo more about his plans, something that might lead the oldest to believe that their sensei would not be returning for a very long time; if ever.  The fear that he might never see his Father again warred with the bitter fury of what had been done to him.

            After their Father’s departure, everything had seemed to fall into a normal routine.  Raph behaved well, Mikey seemed a bit lost but compliant, and Leo maintained the schedule their sensei had put into place years previously.

            It wasn’t long though before Raph had begun to rebel in minor ways; leaving for hours without explanation, arguing over Leo’s decisions while on patrol, and second guessing their leader during practice.  Don had tried to help by explaining to Raph that Leo’s new job was hard enough without that added pressure, but of course the hot head wouldn’t listen.

            Leo had met the rebellion in his usual way for about a week; their shouting matches echoing throughout the lair.  Then suddenly Leo seemed to have found a new inner peace; he didn’t war with Raphael any longer, but began to pull him into private discussions to do what Leo called ‘furthering our understanding of one another’.

            Neither Mikey nor Don thought to ask what was happening because Raph’s personality did a swift one-eighty.    Whatever had occurred, Raph became the picture of perfect obedience.

            Next up was Mikey, whose bombastic disregard for rules wasn’t a rebellion but a laid-back character trait.  When he showed up so late for practice one morning that he’d missed a good portion of it, Leo set him to work cleaning the floors.

            After that Mikey’s behavior changed drastically.  He didn’t whine or complain about chores or practice, and he showed a focus during training that even Master Splinter couldn’t have obtained from the youngest.

            To Don it appeared that Leonardo had matured into his role as Master and had found the same inner strength and will-power that Master Splinter exuded over them.  Donatello was happy for that; he wanted with all his heart for Leo to succeed because that was necessary in order to hold their family together.

            Don now knew that something had indeed happened to Leo and the genius was at a loss to understand it.  Whatever it was, it had made their oldest brother do the unthinkable to Donatello.

            Later that evening a loud knock on his door caused Don to nearly fall off his chair.  Crossing the room, he unlocked and opened the door to find Leo standing there, an inscrutable expression on his face.

            “You must be pretty busy,” Leo said, as though nothing unusual had happened earlier, “we haven’t seen much of you today.  Dinner is in a half hour; I want us all to begin eating at least one meal together.  Don’t be late.”

            The latter request was issued in a mild tone, but Don read much more into those words and nodded numbly.  Leo turned to go but then stopped, spinning to face Don once more.

            “Donatello, I don’t want you to lock this door anymore,” Leo said.  “We’re your family, there is no need to lock yourself away from us.  Likewise, don’t lock your bedroom door or the one to the bathroom.  I’ve asked the same of the others and they’ve assured me that they understand.”

            Swallowing, Don managed to reply, “Okay.”

            Leo gave him a satisfied smile and left.  Closing the door, Don leaned against it, feeling weak kneed.  His brother’s new rules seemed innocent enough, but Don thought he understood the repercussions that would come from a failure to comply.

            As prompt to the table as Don was, he found that both Mikey and Raph were already seated.  The meal was a strange affair; the brothers talked but the conversation sounded stilted and forced except for Leo’s contributions.  He seemed quite at ease and apparently didn’t notice that his siblings weren’t entirely comfortable.

            A couple of things Don noticed as they ate and wondered if he’d been so much in his own little world since sensei left that he could have been blind to them before.  Mikey had begun eating his soup, slurping away as usual, until Leo glanced in his direction.  Although the oldest said nothing, Mikey’s color seemed to change a little and he immediately became silent.

            Raph reached across the table for the bread basket, standing so he could get to it, when Leo suddenly cleared his throat.  The effect on Raph was instantaneous; the hot head froze in place for a couple of seconds, then slowly sat back down.  Once he was again seated, he politely asked to have the bread passed to him, which Leo did with a bright smile.

            Don picked at his food, not quite able to stomach dinner.  He’d felt as though he were in a deep fog the entire day and the only thing he’d managed to ingest were crackers and coffee.  Whenever he thought about why he’d been able to eat the crackers, his gut turned over on itself.

            “Donatello,” Leo said, his tone mild, “you need to eat something.  Skipping meals is a bad habit and an improper diet is unhealthy.  Finish what’s in your bowl.”

            From the words and delivery, one would think that Leo was only showing concern for his brother.  When Don’s eyes briefly met his brother’s, he saw a strange dark resolve in them; an intangible warning that brooked no disagreement.

            “Of course Leo,” Don said quickly as he forced himself to swallow food that was, to him, totally tasteless.

            For days after Don’s punishment, the genius thought hard about what had occurred, his mind occupied with that almost to the exclusion of everything else.  There was no explanation for the abrupt change in Leo’s character or temperament, no warning that something unusual was happening to him.

            The oldest had always worked hard to please his Father; harder than any of them.  Don could understand it if Leo was driving himself because of a desire to show their sensei that he’d made a good decision in setting the mantle of leadership on Leo’s shoulders.

            But something very strange and horrible was happening and Don was at a loss to comprehend its root cause.  The only thing that the genius knew for certain was that under no circumstances was he going to break one of Leo’s rules ever again.

            Another week passed and as far as Don could tell, no one was called in for a ‘private discussion’.  That the younger three brothers were all on edge was easily felt but Leo acted as though everything was perfectly normal. 

            Towards the end of that week Don began to notice that both Raph and Mikey were casting furtive glances in his direction.  They were on speaking terms again, but their conversations lacked substance; it was like they were all going through the motions of the happy family.

            Don wanted desperately to ask why they had begun to look at him in such a pitying way but he was pretty sure they wouldn’t answer.  It didn’t really take a genius to see that they were just as fearful of Leo as he now was.

            The pounding of a fist on Don’s bedroom door one morning pulled him out of a dreamless sleep.  Startled to full wakefulness, he glanced at his clock and saw that it was still five minutes before the alarm was due to go off.  Sitting up quickly, he verified that by looking across the room at the second alarm clock that he now used.

            Jumping out of bed, Don swiftly crossed the room and tugged on the door, looking down in surprise when it didn’t open.  That was when he realized that it was locked.

            Turning the latch to unlock it, Don flung the door open and found Leo standing outside.

            The look on his oldest brother’s face was of an almost smug satisfaction.  It was quickly replaced by a stern expression and Don felt his heart sink.

            “I thought I’d wake you so that you could maintain your perfect attendance record,” Leo said.  “Having to pound on your door was an unpleasant surprise.”

            “I don’t remember . . . um, remember locking it,” Don said, his words faltering as he tried to recall the evening before.

            “I understand habits are difficult to break,” Leo said.  “But you had over a week to establish new ones.  You should have checked the door before crawling into bed.”

            Again Don sensed an underlying agenda in Leo’s attitude.  With a distinct feeling that he was fighting a losing battle, Don attempted to defend himself.

            “Forgetting to leave my door unlocked is a pretty minor infraction, Leo,” Don said.  “I’ve honestly been trying to adjust to your new rules.”

            “Minor infractions could have major consequences,” Leo said, his manner slightly superior.  “A locked door is this household could easily lead to dangerous delays.  We’ll discuss this further when practice is over.  Grab your gear and come downstairs before you’re late.”

            Leo turned and left.  Don stared at his retreating shell, his mind frozen in the ramifications of what that later discussion might entail.  The sound of Leo humming pulled him out of his fugue and sent Don rushing to gather his things and proceed into practice before tardiness could also be held against him.

            Trying to concentrate during practice with the threat of a private discussion looming over his head was difficult.  Leo scolded him several times, reminding him that focus was an essential part of his training.  Don caught the look that passed between Raph and Mikey as the session progressed; his brothers somehow knew that Don had gotten into trouble again.

            It didn’t surprise Don that when practice was called, both of his younger brothers sped from the dojo as fast as they could.

            Don thought that if he took the initiative quickly, Leo might be content for their discussion to remain exactly that.

            “Look Leo, I know that I’ve disappointed you a couple of times and I really don’t want to continue doing that,” Don said in a rush.  “Master Splinter asked me to give you my full support and I need you to know that you have it.  Tell me what I can do to avoid making mistakes; maybe you have some pointers that would help me?”

            “Donny,” Leo said, looking complacent, “the best I can do is reiterate the necessity for complete obedience and provide you with reinforcement and guidance.  Come upstairs.”

            “I don’t . . . I don’t think I d . . . deserve pu . . . punishment,” Don stammered hoarsely, starting to shake.

            “Of course you do,” Leo told him calmly.  “Behaving petulantly will only make matters worse.”

            The urge to bolt was almost overwhelming.  The only reasons Don didn’t run from the lair was that he had nowhere to go that he could call a permanent home and no way to hide from Leo, who was easily capable of tracking him down.

            In addition to that, the small smile on Leo’s face seemed to say he knew what Don was thinking.  Don couldn’t outrun his brother and he couldn’t out fight him either.

            Shoulders slumped in defeat, “Yes . . .  Master,” Don said, adding the honorific when he saw Leo begin to frown.

            Head down, Don trailed behind Leo like a lost pup.  As he neared the staircase, Don cast a quick look around, halfheartedly wishing that his brothers would somehow interfere, but both were conveniently missing.

            Stepping into Leo’s bedroom felt like walking into the lion’s den and the snapping of the lock reminded him he was now caged.  Hands clenched into fists at his side, Don waited for Leo to sit on the bed.

            Instead his brother came around in front of him and held out his hand.  “Give me your bo staff.”

            Don slowly slipped the bo from its place on his carapace and handed it over.  As Leo stepped away to lean it against the wall, he said over his shoulder, “On your knees, Donatello.”

            The words were such an echo from the ones indelibly stamped on his memory that Don’s legs practically gave out from under him as he lowered himself down.  He could feel Leo’s gaze boring into him and when his brother stopped in front of him again, Don could see a brightly avaricious fire burning in them.

            For several moments Leo simply studied Don, his head tilted slightly to one side.  Then his head straightened and he sighed.

            “Do you want this family to stay together, Donatello?” Leo asked.

            Don blinked up at him.  “Yes, of course.”

            “Do you want for us to stay strong?”  Leo was watching Don through narrowed eyes.

            “Leo, this isn’t necessary,” Don spluttered.  “It’s too much.  You have to st . . . .”

            “The only way we’re going to achieve those things is through discipline,” Leo said, overriding Don’s protests.  “Master Splinter understood discipline and instilled it into us when we were children.  He maintained that control because we’d learned the habit of obeying him.  You have to be taught to obey me now; without debate and without argument.”

            Don had started to shake, his mind blank and heavy.  Still he managed to say, “There has to be other ways . . . .”

            “I’m not trying to hurt you, Donny,” Leo interrupted smoothly, reaching out to stroke his brother’s cheek.  “But you’re going to learn one way or the other that my commands are law.”

            Leo’s hand slipped off Don’s face as he moved away from his brother, walking over to the desk that stood against one wall.  Don turned his head to watch, trying to see what his brother was pulling out of one of the drawers, but Leo shielded it with his body.

            When Leo came back towards Don, both of his hands were behind his back.  Stepping in front of Don once more, Leo brought one of his hands forward and dropped something on the floor in front of his brother.

            Don didn’t want to see what his brother had brought over to him, but his head seemed attached to an invisible string as it drifted downwards against Don’s will.  He closed his eyes to avoid looking; pressing his still tight fists against his thighs until it was painful.

            “Donny,” Leo murmured, a dangerous edge to his voice.

            Unable to control his quivering, Don’s eyes snapped open.  On the floor lay a large tube, bearing the label ‘anal lubricant’.

            “No~o,” Don moaned, unable to help the fear that was making his heart hammer in his chest.

            “Shut up!” Leo snapped at him.  “I can see now that part of our education has been sorely lacking.  Master Splinter did not understand the depravity of the modern world and so did not teach us about the tortures we might someday face.  This seems a good time to combine your punishment with a first lesson in that regard.”

            “No one has ever threatened to do something like this to us,” Don whispered hoarsely.

            “Not yet,” Leo said.  “I’d say we’ve been extremely lucky.” 

            Leo presented his other hand for Don’s inspection.  In it he held a large rubber dildo, in a green color that almost matched Leo’s exactly.

            Don could feel hysterical laughter trying to bubble up from this throat.  Never in his wildest imaginings, if his mind had even wandered into this kind of territory, would he have expected _Leonardo_ to know about sex toys.  He absolutely wouldn’t have expected his brother to have found a way to acquire one, and certainly not one of such a specific color.

            His heart was pounding so rapidly in his chest that Don thought it might explode and he rather wished it would.  He couldn’t remember ever being this afraid of anything that had ever happened to them, and that included becoming slaves on a distant planet.

            When Don didn’t move, Leo leaned down and grabbed one of his brother’s arms, lifting it and pressing the dildo against his clenched fist.  Wordlessly, Don unfurled his fingers and felt the soft yet firm toy settle on his palm.

            “I realize you have no experience, so I’m going to tell you what to do,” Leo said, his voice dipping to a lower tone.  “Apply a liberal amount of the lubricant to the working end of that dildo, and when I say liberal, I want you to keep in mind that more is better in this situation.  When you are done, I want you to lift your tail and press the dildo into your anus.”

            “Please Leo,” Don begged in a choked voice.  “Don’t make me do this.  It isn’t like you to force us to do things that are immoral.”

            “What isn’t like me, dear brother, is allowing disobedience to spiral out of my control,” Leo said, his voice as cutting as a blade.  “You will do exactly what I tell you to do because you know as well as I the penalties for disloyalty to your clan.”

            Taking up the lubricant, Don flipped the cap open awkwardly and squeezed some of the contents onto the dildo.  Setting the lube aside, Don spread the substance onto the toy, trying to spread it evenly and thickly.

            Don was trembling uncontrollably as he brought the dildo around to his backside.  It took every bit of strength to coax his tail out of the way; the appendage instinctively lowering into a protective barrier.

            Touching the smooth tip to his entrance, Don inhaled deeply to try and stop his hand from shaking so badly.  He pushed the dildo in slowly, coaxing it past the tight ring of muscle that barricaded the opening to his passageway.

            The toy was of a fairly decent size and it hurt.  Don hissed and stopped moving, tears stinging the corners of his eyes from both pain and the frustration of having been forced into this situation.

            “Apply more lubricant,” Leo told him.

            Don didn’t acknowledge his brother beyond removing the dildo and spreading an additional dollop of lubricant across the tip.  He knew Leo was watching his every movement; Don could feel the heat coming off Leo’s body and smell the pheromones his brother was exuding.

            Squeezing his eyes shut so tightly that little pinpoints of light flashed behind the lids, Don pushed the freshly slicked toy into his body.  When it was all the way in, Don panted and shook, the overwhelmingly full feeling adding a vague discomfort to the mildly burning sensation of being stretched in such a manner.

            He started to move his hand but Leo shifted forward and grabbed his shoulder.  “Keep your hand there; I want you to hold that toy exactly where it is.  Don’t allow it to slip out.”

            Don swallowed and nodded, not trusting himself to attempt an answer.  Leo stroked his shoulder for a moment and then stepped back again.

            “We aren’t finished,” Leo said huskily.

            A low moan escaped before Don could stop it.  “L  . . . Leo, please!”

            “I told you the last time that another infraction would be dealt with a bit more harshly,” Leo reminded him.  “You have a free hand that is nicely lubricated.  Coax yourself out of hiding.”

            Don’s eyes snapped open and he stared at his brother in dismay.  “I can’t!  Not like this!”

            “For someone so intelligent, you show an amazing innocence,” Leo practically purred.  “This is why I didn’t let you remove your new toy.  Get a firm grip on the end and thrust it in and out of yourself.  While you do that, rub your thumb along the side of your cock.  I really shouldn’t have to tell you how to masturbate, Donatello.”

            “You . . . you’re watching . . . .” Don began and stopped.

            “Yes I am,” Leo said.  “I expect to be obeyed in this as in all things.  I want you to masturbate for me, Donny.  I want to watch you screw yourself with that dildo while you stroke your cock until you climax.  Those are very basic instructions from your Master.  Carry them out.”

            With something close to a sob, Don began to do as Leo ordered.  Pulling the dildo partway out, he pushed it back in again.  Leo moved around to stand next to him and Don knew it was so his brother could have an unobstructed view of both of Don’s hands.

            Rubbing against the slit in his plastron with his thumb, Don concentrated on the feeling of friction in that sensitive region as he tried to ignore everything else around him.  Sliding his thighs further apart made the manipulations easier and had the added bonus of relaxing his rectum.

            Maintaining his focus on his lower regions, Don started to feel his cock coming to life.  His thumb caressed his hidden shaft until it grew large enough to require freedom and he grasped it in his slick hand once it made an appearance.

            Don began stroking himself in time with the movement of the dildo, rocking slightly with the rhythm.  A churr built in his chest and he allowed it to escape so that he could hang onto the illusion that this was for his own pleasure alone.

            The fantasy was short lived as an answering churr from his brother reminded Don that he had an audience.  By then the pressure in his groin was great enough that he didn’t care who was watching.

            “Faster, Don,” Leo urged gutturally.  “Harder.”

            Don suddenly felt Leo grab his arm and shove hard enough to bury the dildo further inside of him than Don had yet to go.  The toy hit something in Don’s interior that made him grunt in surprise; the strange tingling sensation traveling straight to his cock.

            Leo released his arm and leaned down to whisper against Don’s head, “Again.”

            Repeating the maneuver, Don managed to hit the same spot and he shook as the intense pleasure shot into his system.  Mouth open, Don tilted his head back as he pulled himself closer and closer to the edge of release.

            Something tapped against his lower lip and Don’s eyes fluttered open.  Standing directly in front of him, Leo’s cock was out and darkly needy.

            “You know what to do,” Leo said.

            With a deep moan that was a mixture of disgust at his actions and the building need in his body, Don tipped his head forward, his open mouth accepting the slide of his brother’s cock.  Leo’s hands trapped Don’s skull and held it firmly in place as he used the warm, wet orifice for his own pleasure.

            Thrusting forward with his hips, Leo drove into Don’s mouth over and over, his churrs loudly denoting his intense enjoyment.  Don continued to masturbate, his legs trembling as he jammed the dildo into his own ass, striking his prostate with a purpose.

            The groans and churrs that Don contributed to the sounds of debauchery were trapped in his throat as Leo’s cock moved inside his mouth.

            “Cum for me, Donny,” Leo whispered past panting breaths.  “Show me how much you love this lesson.”

            Shuddering with self-loathing, Don tipped over into his climax.  As he shook and moaned around Leo’s cock, Don continued to fuck himself with the dildo, afraid to stop until Leo gave him permission to do so.

            “Good, so good,” Leo growled, a deeply feral sound that made Don brace himself.

            Within seconds, Leo’s heated shaft expanded and the oldest began ramming his cock into Don’s mouth at a frenetic pace.  With a hoarse cry, Leo orgasmed, spraying his load down his brother’s throat.

            Leo’s cock was too far in and Don started to gag as the warm juices flooded his mouth.  He began pulling against Leo’s hands frantically, making tiny whimpering sounds as he struggled.

            It took a second for Leo to realize what was happening.  When he did, he pulled back slightly, allowed Don to breathe and to swallow.  Leo didn’t remove his cock until the last of the tiny microbursts from his orgasm faded, coating Don’s tongue thickly.

            Don’s hand fell away from his own diminished erection.  He continued to move the dildo inside himself, but his eyes were closed as Leo eased away from his mouth.

            “You may stop fucking yourself,” Leo said.  “Push the dildo all the way in and leave it.”

            “Yes Master,” Don said automatically, his mind having shut down.  He carefully pushed the rubber sex toy as far into his anal passage as he could and then let go of it.

            “Open your eyes, Donatello,” Leo said smoothly.

            When Don’s eyes fluttered open, he saw his brother’s limp cock was still just inches from his face.

            “I’m sticky,” Leo told him.  “Clean me off so I can tuck myself away.”

            Don nodded once before placing his tongue on Leo’s cock and laving it completely.  Leo hummed in satisfaction as he waited; his thumbs rubbing lightly along Don’s cheeks as he continued to hold his brother’s head in place.

            Releasing Don finally, Leo adroitly tucked his cock back into hiding.  Without Leo’s tight grip keeping him upright, Don almost fell forward, managing to just catch himself.  He was breathing hard still; system completely overloaded by his brother’s depravity.

            Leo stepped away from him for a second and then came back with a wet cloth.

            “Wipe yourself off; just the front, but do not tuck yourself in,” Leo told him.  “And then clean my floor.  I don’t want to see the mess you’ve made.”

            Don felt a hot flush sweep up from his neck into his face as he quickly wiped his plastron and thighs, cleaning his hands in the process.  Leaning forward, he carefully scrubbed all traces of his semen from the floor.

            Leo walked around behind him and stood waiting, the sound of his tapping foot filling Don with a new dread.

            “I’m finished, Master,” Don said when he was done.

            “Very good.  Set the cloth aside and place your forearms on the floor,” Leo ordered.

            Uncertainty filled Don as he teetered on his knees, fearful of what further punishment he would be made to endure.

            “I’m waiting,” Leo said, his voice so coldly calculating it shook Don out of his immobility.

            Stretching forward, Don shifted his weight onto his arms, leaving his rear end as the highest point of his body.

            “Spread your legs,” Leo instructed, stepping between Donatello’s outstretched calves when his younger brother complied.

            Don’s fists were clenched so tightly again that they were beginning to become numb.  He could feel the heat from Leo’s breath touch his rear and his tail flattened across his opening in response.

            Leo’s fingers closed over Don’s tail and he lifted the appendage high into the air.  For another moment, nothing else happened, and Don suppressed the urge to put his forehead on the floor.

            Suddenly Leo’s other hand closed around Don’s exposed penis, causing the younger turtle to gasp and flinch in reaction.  Leo squeezed firmly, not enough to be painful, but it was enough of a warning to still Don’s movements.

            “This belongs to me,” Leo said, his words firm and succinct.

            Carefully massaging his brother’s cock, Leo said, “Your tail also belongs to me.  If I tell you to lift it, you will do so.  Don’t make me have to fight with it again.”

            “I . . . I won’t, Master,” Don croaked.

            Leo let go of Don’s tail and with every bit of willpower he had, Don kept it in the raised position Leo had placed it in.  Don felt Leo’s fingertips graze the area around his anus and then the dildo moved, sliding partway out and then grinding into him again.

            “Your ass is mine as well,” Leo informed him, pulling, pushing, and twisting the dildo inside of Don’s anal passage.  “Next time you disobey a command or break a rule, I want you to remember that.”

            With a hard shove, Leo slammed the dildo into his brother and tightened his grip on Don’s painfully sensitive shaft.  “Do you understand me?”

            “Yes, Master,” Don choked out with a sob.

            “I can’t hear you,” Leo said, yanking the dildo back and plunging it forward again.

            “Yes, Master!” Don all but shouted.

            Apparently satisfied, Leo relinquished his hold on Don’s cock and pulled the dildo all of the way out of him.

            “You may lift one hand and tuck yourself in,” Leo said.

            Don’s hand shook as he placed he sore penis back into its protective pocket.  He heard Leo’s door being opened and prayed that neither of his other siblings would walk past and see him.

            “You are dismissed, Donatello,” Leo said.  “You may stand up once you are out of my room.”

            Swallowing heavily, Don began crawling backwards on his hands and knees.  Once he crossed the threshold of Leo’s room, his brother shut the door in his face.

TBC……………..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This intriguing image was created by the very talented ashitarimai.  
> 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 5,933  
> Rating: NC-17 Contains TCest and non-consensual adult situations  
> Pairing: Leo/Don  
> Summary: The power of leadership goes to Leonardo's head and he acts it out on the one brother who usually obeys him without question.

            Don’s first instinct after the closed door cut him off from Leo’s view was to curl into a ball on the floor, but he couldn’t succumb to it.  He didn’t want Mikey or Raph to see him like that.

            Not sure he could stand just yet, Don crawled up near the wall and turned, pressing his carapace against the bricks.  Sliding down slowly, Don hissed when his rear touched the floor.

            The pain was bearable, but it was distinctly uncomfortable.  Don felt like he needed to go to the bathroom, his interior throbbing.  The worst part was the sting from his sphincter; it felt as though the skin had split in a couple of places and Don thought that it might very well have been.

            It might not have been so bad if Leo hadn’t gotten a bit rough when driving home his point about obedience.  ‘Driving’ being the operative word, Don thought to himself with a slightly hysterical giggle.

            Trying to swallow that reaction brought up tears that Don was determined not to shed.  There had to be a logical explanation for Leo’s abrupt personality change; if Don could discover what it was, then he could work towards putting things right again.

            Having some kind of purpose helped to calm him a little.  As Don prepared to stand, he noticed that his bo staff was leaning against the wall.  Leo must have placed it outside of his room when he opened the door for his brother.

            Grabbing the staff, Don used it as a brace and pushed himself to his feet.  He had no idea what Leo was doing, but if the door opened, Don did not want to be anywhere near it, or Leo.

            Walking stiffly to the bathroom, Don shut himself in, just barely remembering not to lock the door.  Leo’s final assurances about owning Don’s body was frightening enough, the implications of what would happen with the next rule infraction put ice in Don’s veins.

            Staring at his reflection in the mirror, Don had to ask himself the gut wrenching question, was Leo capable of rape?  The unfortunate answer was yes, it seemed so.

            The next question, a more difficult one, was whether Don was his brother’s first victim.  From the way his two younger siblings behaved, Don was fairly certain he was not.

            Don did not see Raph or Mikey again until dinner, a meal he was carefully prompt for.  Neither of them would meet his eyes when he looked around the table, but they responded when spoken to.

            Their behavior was all the answer he needed.  Leo’s look of complacency as he sat at the head of the table was another strong indicator that he was controlling all three of his brothers in the same vicious manner.

            Don was enough of a scientist to be able to compartmentalize his feelings and think about their situation in a strictly clinical manner.  He knew that Leo understood his brothers well enough to use their weaknesses against them.  It explained the order in which Leo chose to pull each brother aside; Raph had always been the biggest challenge to Leo’s authority, so of course he’d been ‘disciplined’ first.

            That Don was the last was largely due to the fact that he never argued Leo’s decisions.  Don was always perfectly content to be led, to do whatever was asked of him, and to not second guess orders.

            Don tended to drive himself hard in his intellectual pursuits and their Father had often admonished him for losing track of time.  When Leo had finally decided to turn his attention Donatello’s direction, he focused his attack on Don’s tardiness and secretiveness. 

            “You seem very far away this evening, Donny,” Leo commented, breaking into his brother’s thoughts.  “Were you planning on eating that bread, or feeding it to the mice?”

            Startled, Don glanced down and saw that he was absentmindedly tearing a slice of bread into tiny pieces.  Setting in on his plate carefully, he managed to give Leo a tight smile.

            “I was mentally tracing a wire coupling that leads into tunnel three,” Don lied glibly.  “I think it’s shorting out.”

            “Something you need to look into?” Leo asked, raising his eye ridges.

            “Probably,” Don said.  “I prefer to have all the security sensors operating at optimum capacity.”

            A couple of hours out of the lair to be alone with his thoughts sounded really good.  He stared at Leo expectantly.

            “Take Mikey with you,” Leo said.  “I don’t like for you to be out without someone to watch your back.  Get the problem resolved and come back quickly.”

            “Will do,” Don said lightly, hiding his chagrin.  A glance at Mikey had shown him that his little brother was no happier about those instructions than he was.

            After dinner, Don grabbed his duffel and tool kit.  Mikey took the latter from him without a word and the two of them traversed the tunnels until they reached the point that Don had claimed was giving him trouble.

            It was easy enough for Don to make it appear that he’d found a problem.  Setting to work on replacing a section of wire that was in no need of repair, Don watched Mikey from the corner of his eye.  His little brother was nervous and fidgety; not the normal restlessness that came from an exuberant personality, but the anxious jitters of someone on edge.

            His concern for his brother overcame Don’s reticence and he asked, “Mikey, are you all right?”

            Don wasn’t sure Mikey was going to answer him at first, but then his brother turned wide frightened eyes in his direction.

            “None of us are,” Mikey told him in a low voice.

            “Mike . . . .” Don began.

            “It’s you he wants,” Mikey whispered.

            “Pardon me?”  Don stopped working, stunned at Mikey’s words.

            “He’s got us beat, Raph and me.  He knew how to do it, that’s why he started with us.  He’s worried ‘cause he knows how smart you are.  He’s watching all the time.  He’s not sure that he can control you,” Mikey said in a low rush, his manner furtive as his eyes darted around the tunnel.

            Don noticed that Mikey was careful to avoid saying Leo’s name.  He didn’t know enough about the pathology of abuse victims to quantify that as one of the characteristics, but Don could understand it if it was.  A nameless pronoun kept the monster from being their brother.

            “Mike, if you know what’s happening with Leo, you have to tell me,” Don urged.  “I can figure out how to fix this.”

            Mikey looked around frantically before hissing, “That’s why he’s afraid of you.  I can’t talk, Donny.  He could be following us and we’d never know.  Just watch your shell.  He wants to break you.”

            That was all Don could get out of him.  He could sense Mikey’s fear; could smell it coming from his brother’s pores.  Mikey was right, Leo could easily spy on them without their knowledge.  They had come to rely on Leonardo’s exceptional ninja skills as a blessing for their family, now it was proving to be a curse.

            Finished with his fake wiring job, Don decided it was time for them to head back home.  He wasn’t sure what time frame Leo had in mind as appropriate for their absence, but Don was learning not to take chances.

            As they were about to enter the lair they saw through the open doorway that Leo was in deep conversation with Raphael.  Don felt Mikey’s elbow touch him and glanced over at his younger brother.

            Mikey leaned closer, his eyes glued to Leo, and said, “He’s gonna catch you breaking a rule bro’, no matter what you do.  He’ll make sure you break one.  Just try to roll with it.”

            Don stared at him as Mikey broke into a loud laugh and strolled into the lair, behaving as though this were a normal night for all of them.  He called out good naturedly to Leo and Raph and ducked into the kitchen.

            Taking his eyes off Mikey, Don made his way over to his other two brothers.  Raph appeared relieved to see him; tension evident from the rigidity of his body.  Whatever Leo had been saying to him, Raph was having difficulty dealing with it.

            Even though Mikey had delivered his warning and then separated from Don before Leo saw them, their oldest brother seemed to know Mikey had said something.  As Don walked up to Leo and Raph, the clan leader met his eyes and smiled.  That smile seemed to say that Leo wasn’t fooled by Mikey’s show.

            In a flash of understanding, Don realized that Leo had sent Mikey off with him in the hopes that Mikey _would_ say something.

            “Did you get the problem resolved?” Leo asked.

            “Yes I did,” Don said simply.

            “Good.  I was just telling Raph that we shouldn’t always count on your security measures to keep us safe.  It would be best if we have a new policy in place that none of you goes anywhere alone and that all trips are approved by me first,” Leo said.

            Don glanced at Raph in dismay, certain that edict would bring out a show of hot headed temper.  Raph liked his independence and being told when he could come and go always brought out a blistering string of obscenities that culminated in his refusal to be dictated to.

            However, this time Raph’s lips compressed into a thin line but he held his tongue.  In a way, that was more frightening than anything Mikey had said to Don.

            “Furthermore,” Leo said, looking directly at Don, “I want to see the search history on your computer daily.  There are too many things I need to know about that are kept from me through inadvertence and I intend to remedy that.  If I know what you’re working on, it will help me to assess our threat exposure.”

            “My . . . my computer?” Don asked, dread clutching greedily at his heart.

            “You try to take too much on yourself, Don,” Leo explained unctuously.  “My job is to delegate tasks and I can’t do that if I don’t know what you’ve got on your plate.”

            “I always try to keep you apprised of my to-do lists,” Don told him.

            “But you often get too busy to remember to do that,” Leo said, his voice changing slightly.  “Do you have a problem with my request?”

            The underlying menace in that question didn’t go unnoticed.  Don could feel Raph’s eyes on him and he could almost sense his brother’s anxiety.

            “No,” Don answered quietly.  “I’ll make sure everything is available to you.”

            “I can always count on you, Donny,” Leo said, his tone complacent.  “One other thing, I want you to install security cameras in each of your rooms and in the lab by the end of the week.  The feed will go to a monitor in my room.”

            Mikey was just coming out of the kitchen and froze when he heard Leo’s demand.  Don’s eyes flitted over to him and then back to Leo, too surprised to be cautious.

            “Are you going to start spying on us now?” Don asked.

            He instantly regretted saying it.  Raph’s gasp was audible and Mikey lost his hold on the water bottle he was carrying, barely catching it before it hit the floor.

            Leo moved closer to Don, his bright eyes fixing his brother in place.  “Whatever I choose to do to keep this family safe is my prerogative as its leader.  I’m sure you don’t want to argue that, do you Donatello?  Or is it that you’ve decided to disparage my decisions?”

            For a brief moment the tableau held, with Don on the verge of calling his brother out on his behavior.  The fanatical look on Leo’s face and Mikey’s words stopped Don.  His younger siblings knew what Leo was capable of and Don’s two encounters were bad enough without inviting worse.

            “That isn’t what I meant at all,” Don said as quickly as he could.  “You were concerned about my taking on too much and it just seems like you are going to be doing the same thing.  I doubt if Master Splinter wanted you to wear yourself out.”

            “I see,” Leo said, his eyes still burning into Don.  “Your hesitance in obeying me was because you’re worried about me.  Let me assure you, I’ve never been better.  In fact, this is probably the best I’ve felt in years.  As soon as we have a few new rules established around here, my life will be perfect.  So will all of yours with the proper discipline.”

            Don couldn’t help himself as he said, “I’m sure Master Splinter would be proud to know how you’re accomplishing that.  His last words of advice to you before he left must have been very useful.”

            Flashing his brother a fake smile, Don turned and walked away.  Mentally kicking himself as he headed towards his lab, Don half expected to have Leo call him back for another private discussion, but Leo remained silent.

            As Don passed Mikey, his youngest brother gave him a look that was unfathomable.  Don wasn’t sure if it was due to shock at what Don had said, or admiration that Don had the guts to say it.

            Don sat in his old comfortable chair and began to think.  Mikey’s last words to him explained the problem with his alarm clock and the door he was sure he’d left unlocked.  It was much too easy for someone with Leo’s skill set to sneak into his room and turn an alarm to the off position, or to set the locking mechanism on the bedroom door.

            If that was how Leo intended to manage Don, then there wasn’t a lot the genius could do to circumvent him.  He could probably rig something to his bed without Leo’s knowledge that would wake him on time and he could always remove the locks from all the doors, but Leo was handing down so many rules that Don was bound to break one of them.

            As Mikey had said, Leo would make sure that he did.  This latest directive regarding his computer was an obvious ploy to make sure Don wasn’t researching a way to defeat his oldest brother.  If Leo could maintain a strict handle on everything Donatello did, then Don couldn’t fight him.

            Fortunately, computers were not Leo’s best friends.  He had a rudimentary knowledge of their function, but obviously didn’t realize how easy it was for Donatello to fake a search history or to hide anything he didn’t want his brother to see.

            Don’s bigger concern was having big brother watching him twenty-four hours a day.  The faked search history would have to match however much time Don spent at his computer, or Leo would notice the disparity.

            The following week was a busy one.  Don had plenty of security equipment in his storage lockers; cameras and other things that had been acquired from Bishop, the Purple Dragons, Shredder, and now Karai.  Sorting through them, making necessary repairs, and then running wiring into each bedroom and the lab was time consuming.

            With help from Raph and Mikey, Don managed to get the job done within Leo’s timeframe.  The only thing that Don didn’t have was a good working monitor; those were just too heavy to lug around during a raid.

            Don told Leo that he needed to do a little breaking and entering at a nearby recycling plant in order to find a monitor.  Since Leo had made the rule about going nowhere alone, he assigned Raph the task of helping Don.

            They took the van because it was nondescript and Raph drove them to within a block of their destination.  The building was easy enough to get into; no security cameras and an old alarm system that was simple to bypass.  Probably no one worried that thieves would raid a place full of things that were already broken.

            Raph had never been all that talkative when he was working, so Don didn’t think much about the fact that his brother hadn’t said more than ten words since they left the lair.  Given the current conditions, Don wasn’t sure that Raph would have answered him if he’d tried to bring up the subject of Leo’s dark behavior anyway.

            Scrounging through the room that held the cast off computer equipment, Don found several things that he needed and began collecting them into a big box he carried.  Raph trudged along behind him, ready to play pack mule whenever Don finished gathering stuff.  The box was nearly full when they located a couple of long tables weighed down with nothing but monitors.

            As Don started to eyeball the equipment, he heard Raph take a deep breath and exhale before breaking the silence.

            “I’m thinking about running away,” Raph said in a low voice.  “Do ya’ think he’ll come after me?”

            Startled, Don set the equipment he was holding down and turned to face his brother.  Raph’s shoulders were slumped, his entire demeanor that of someone who has been repeatedly kicked while they were down.  As Raph looked up, Don saw a brief flash of the old fire in his brother’s eyes.

            “Yes,” Don answered honestly.  “I think this Leo would track you unmercifully.”

            “’S what I thought,” Raph said, lowering his eyes again.  He kicked aside a fallen power cable and sighed.  “I wouldn’t come back ya’ know.  I’d fight him until one of us was dead.  I don’t wanna kill my brother and I don’t wanna get killed, but I can’t live like this forever either.”

            Don placed a hand on Raph’s shoulder and squeezed gently.  When he finally got Raph to look up at him again, Don said, “Hang on for a while longer, Raph, please?  I know I didn’t see what was happening until it was almost too late, but give me a chance to figure this out.  I’m sure there is something that I can do.”

            “That’s what’s got him worried,” Raph said, a hint of his cocky smile returning.  “He’s got us tied down just fine, he don’t need cameras in our rooms.  That’s for you; Leo wants ta know exactly what you’re doing all of the time.  Your brains and your computers are the only thing that scares Fearless these days.”

            “Good,” Don said.  “If he’s worried that means I have a chance to set things right.  Can you stick with me while I try?”

            “Yeah, I guess so,” Raph said.  “Donny, I . . . I can’t stand for him ta touch me again.  I can’t do that anymore, it’s sucking the life out of me.  If he calls me for another private discussion, I’ll either run or I’ll commit seppuku, whether ya’ got this solved or not.  Probably I’ll run ‘cause that way if I’m gonna die at least I got a chance of getting rid of him for ya’ and Mikey.”

            “Raphael, don’t talk like that!” Don exclaimed, horrible fear gripping his heart.  “Please, please promise me you won’t kill yourself.”

            “I ain’t promising Donny,” Raph said slowly, staring with pain filled eyes at his brother.  “Ya’ know a little of what he’s willing ta do ta ya’, but ya’ don’t know it all yet.  I hope ya’ don’t find out, but I’m afraid you’re gonna.  Leo wants ya’ real bad and he has ways now of gettin’ what he wants.”

            Don was both afraid to ask and afraid not to, but the need to know finally won out.  “Raph, has he raped you?”

            The muscles all over Raph’s body tensed and he stepped away from Don, pulling down an invisible shield between them.  “Don’t ask me that ever again, Donatello.  That ain’t something I’m ever gonna talk about.”

            Don watched him for another minute, gauging his chances at finding out more, but he knew a stubborn Raph when he saw one.  Without another word, Don quickly located a couple of monitors he was sure he could fix, and the pair left the building.

            After Don had the monitor installed in Leo’s room, he showed his brother how to flip ‘channels’ from one room to the next with the remote he’d programmed.  The cameras he was using weren’t capable of swiveling, but at some point Leo had gone in and fixed all of them on a certain point in each room.

            As the brothers gathered around Leo and his new monitor, Leo said, “I have these cameras set the way I want them.  Don’t turn them off, don’t cover them, and do not move them.”

            When each of his siblings verbally affirmed their understanding of his orders, Leo dismissed them.

            The next morning, Leo announced his intention to lengthen their practice sessions and to further increase the amount of time he wanted his brothers to meditate each day.  Normally this would have met with a rather loud protest from Michelangelo, who equated meditation with torture, but the youngest meekly acquiesced.

            Things seemed to fall into an even rhythm over the next couple of days.  Leo’s mood was almost gentle enough to lull the brothers into a false sense of security and Don began to wonder if now that Leo had them all under such tight control, he was content to discontinue those tortuous disciplinary measures of his.

            Don hadn’t had much opportunity to research the typical behavior of abusers, but a common thread amongst them seemed to be a tendency to escalate, both in the harshness of the abuse and the frequency.  Nearly two weeks had passed since Don’s last encounter with Leo and his brother had exhibited no outward signs of displeasure with anyone’s behavior.

            It was only a matter of time, as Donatello discovered the next morning.

            When their practice session was over, Don walked back to his lab, intent on doing a little internet surfing.  He removed his bo staff and leaned it against the table next to his chair, but before he could sit down, Don saw that Leo had come in behind him.

            “Hey bro’,” Don said.  “What’s up?”

            From the expression on Leo’s face, Don knew that his reprieve was over.  His heart started racing and his tongue glued itself to his upper palate, his throat almost closing so much that oxygen couldn’t pass through it.

            Leo slowly pointed towards the camera that was inside Don’s lab, drawing Don’s eyes up to it with the deliberateness of his gesture.

            “That camera has been moved,” Leo said somewhat unnecessarily because Don could see for himself that it was now aimed at the ceiling.

            It was such a base trick that Don would normally have laughed, but he was too scared to find much humor in the situation.

            “I didn’t move it, Leo,” Don said, though he knew his protests would fall on deaf ears.

            “Is there something you’re trying to hide from me, Donatello?” Leo asked.

            “Of course not!” Don yelped.  “You know I didn’t shift that camera, Leo.  Why are you doing this?”

            “Come upstairs, we need to have a discussion,” Leo said.

            “Shell, Leo!” Don cried out.  “You have to stop.”

            “Keep fighting me and this will only get worse,” Leo threatened.  “Am I going to find that Raph’s camera has also been tampered with?”

            Don’s mouth snapped shut.  Now he understood why Leo had sent Raph to help gather the computer equipment.  Leo knew Raph would tell his genius brother about his feelings of desperation.  The implications in Leo’s words were clear; if Don argued further, Leo would go after Raphael again.

            Shaking with dread, Don stammered, “I’m s . . . sure Raph’s cam . . . camera is fine.  I’m coming with y . . . you, Master.”

            Walking up the stairs behind Leo was one of the hardest things Don had ever done.  Raph was nowhere around, but as Don reached the top of the staircase, he caught a glimpse of Mikey’s face.  His younger brother stood in the kitchen doorway watching them and he looked like he was about to cry.

            Don stepped resolutely into Leo’s room, though his nerves made him jump slightly when the lock snapped into place.  He took deep measured breaths as he waited, growing more anxious when after several minutes there was no sound from his brother.

            He had started to turn to find out what was going on, when Leo came around in front of him.  Forcing himself to meet Leo’s eyes, Don worked to keep the fear out of his own.

            Leo nodded to himself as though that was what he’d expected to see.  “On your knees, Donatello.”

            Shuddering, Don sank to his knees and waited.  As Leo stepped away, Don remained perfectly still, though his eyes tried to follow his brother.  Don had no idea what to expect, but he knew it wouldn’t be pleasant.

            When Leo set a pail of warm soapy water and a large sponge in front of him, Don blinked in confusion and glanced up.  Leo’s arms were crossed over his plastron, a strange smile on his face.

            “Scrub my floor, Don,” Leo said.  “On your hands and knees.  I want every inch of it clean.”

            More than a little perplexed, Don picked up the sponge and said, “Yes, Master.”

            Leo turned and walked to a far corner of the room, where he stopped and stared at Don.  Unable to process the turn of events, Don dipped the sponge into the water and leaned down to begin his task.

            Don had been scrubbing for nearly ten minutes when he chanced a look in Leo’s direction.  What he saw brought his heart into his throat; Leo was watching him intently and rubbing his bulging slit over and over with one hand.

            When he saw Don’s eyes on him, the smile on Leo’s face widened.  “You can stop for just a moment, Donatello,” Leo said softly.  “I need to add something to your cleaning equipment.  Don’t move from that spot.”

            On all fours with one hand grasping the sponge, Don froze.  He didn’t dare turn his head to follow Leo’s movements, but the sound of the desk drawer opening made his entire body quiver with fright.

            As Leo stepped up behind him, Don closed his eyes and bit his lower lip.

            “Tail,” Leo husked in a voice deepened by lust.

            Remembering what Leo had said during their last encounter, Don lifted his tail up as high as he could, leaving his anus completely unprotected.  He felt something wet press against his entrance, move all around it, and then retreat.  In another second the object was back, this time the cool wetness breached his tight ring of muscle slightly, twisting and turning just a fraction of the way inside of him.

            Again, the object was removed, and then it returned.  This time Leo pushed it slowly into his brother, taking the time to spin it around as it filled Don.

            Don could tell immediately that whatever was inside of him wasn’t his brother’s penis.  Obviously another sex toy, it wasn’t the one Leo had used before.  This one was larger and heavier, and Leo inserted it until it reached a point where it would go no further.

            Although Leo had used a large amount of lube and had employed caution while inserting it, Don still found the intrusion to be painful.  The uncomfortable fullness was there along with a slight burn and a stinging sensation at the entry point.  Don tasted blood and realized he had bitten too hard on his lip.

            Leo reached around Don and untied his belt, removing it from his waist.  A second later, Don felt something touch his throat and he opened his eyes, though he couldn’t see anything because Leo had tightened into place what Don now knew was his belt.

            Patting one of Don’s butt cheeks, Leo stood up.  “This will help you work faster,” Leo told him just before pressing a finger against the object he’d shoved into Don’s ass.

            An intense movement shook Don’s core as the object began to vibrate.  Groaning with shocked surprise, Don very nearly buckled under the onslaught of totally new and powerful  sensations.

            “Continue scrubbing, Donny, you aren’t even half finished,” Leo instructed from his original position near the wall.

            It was all Don could do to pull his mind away from the vibrator humming away inside his anal passage and start cleaning the floor again.  Trying to ignore both the device and Leo, Don crawled along the floor, using the sponge in a vigorous imitation of the vibrators movements.

            Curiosity got the better of him and Don found that his eyes were seeking out Leo again.  With Leo’s face in shadow, Don couldn’t make out his brother’s expression, but he could easily see Leo’s hand was now gripping his own cock and that he was slowly stroking himself.

            Don’s eyes snapped shut, then he returned them to the floor.  He could stand this humiliation just fine if this was as far as it went.  Maybe Leo would jack himself off in the corner and not force Don to touch him.

            A more rational portion of Don’s mind told him not to get his hopes up.  Leo’s movements were slow and languid, more of a tease than an actual attempt towards completion.  His older brother was waiting for something and as Don scrubbed, the vibrator buzzing inside him, he started to understand what that something was.

            Face heating with shame, Don felt his penis beginning to harden.  He tried desperately to think of anything that would make him deflate again, but the vibrator was pressing against the nerves that made up his prostate and sending jolts of tingling pleasure into Don’s groin.  It was only a minute or two later when Don had to give up the losing battle and drop down, his cock hard and throbbing.

            As soon as Don’s erection made its appearance, Leo began to churr.  Don moaned lowly, completely mortified by his inability to control his own arousal.  The vibrator purred on, intensifying the feeling in the lower half of Don’s body, and he found himself trembling as he tried to control the need to orgasm.

            “Stop,” Leo called as he began to slowly pace across the room towards where Don held his vulnerable position on hands and knees.

            Don’s eyes closed again; he had a terrible feeling that he knew what would happen next.

            “Spread your legs,” Leo told him in a guttural voice.

            “No,” Don grunted, trying to fight the inevitable.

            A sudden tightness constricted his throat, forcing Don’s head up and back.  He’d forgotten the belt that Leo had tied around his neck.

            “In a clan, one never denies the Master,” Leo reminded him.  “Discipline and obedience are your Gods, and I am their voice.  When you defy your clan, you have in essence asked for death.  Shall I end your life?”

            The belt pressed against Don’s larynx, cutting off his ability to breathe.  Becoming lightheaded, Don had no doubt that Leo would carry out his punishment even to the extreme of killing him.

            Carefully, Don began to widen the gap between his knees.  As he moved, Leo eased up on the pressure against Don’s throat.

            “Good enough,” Leo said, retaining a hold on the belt as Don stopped moving.

            Don felt the sex toy stop vibrating and then slip out of him.  Leo tossed it on the floor next to Don, whose quick glimpse of the thing proved that it was the same green color as the dildo Leo had used on him.

            _“Ego,”_ Don thought just before he felt Leo move closer to him.  Then his mind told him that he was about to be raped by his own brother.

            The vibrator had been inserted slowly and carefully, but Leo was neither of those things.  He placed the tip of his cock against Don’s entrance and then rammed his length brutally into his brother.

            Don cried out as the pain hit him.  Even prepped, Leo’s size was a shock to Don’s system and the force of the entry hurt terribly.

            Legs trembling, Don held himself up as best he could against Leo’s onslaught.  His brother was thrusting into him in a frenzy of motion; using full-body drives that slammed into Don’s interior with punishing force.

            Don’s erection had begun to dwindle, the pain not inductive to arousal.  Leo leaned forward a bit; one hand still gripping the belt around Don’s throat like a horses reins, Leo reached underneath his brother and captured Don’s cock.

            “Ahh!”  Don shook as Leo began to stroke him back to full arousal.  He didn’t want to succumb to Leo’s lustful intent, but the pain in his ass was giving way to pleasure as Leo’s cock struck his prostate.

            They were both churring between the animalistic grunts and groans that escaped their throats.  As with most things, Leo seemed to know exactly what he was doing as he coaxed Don’s cock to a painful hardness.

            “Cum, Donny,” Leo ordered, his voice a husky whisper.  “Accept your punishment fully.”

            Breathing hard, Don tried to pull his arousal back, but the pressure in his loins was too much.  With a gasping cry, Don orgasmed, his hips pushing his shaft into the tight ring of Leo’s fingers as his seed was expelled.

            Even while in the throes of his climax, Don felt the muscles in his rectum squeeze around Leo’s cock and understood why Leo wanted him to cum first.  In another second, Leo’s hand left Don’s penis and lifted to grip Don’s hip tightly as he began moving faster and harder inside his brother.

            A long groan preceded Leo’s release and after a few staccato thrusts, Leo buried his cock inside Don and road out his orgasm.  Don could feel Leo’s heat fill him, the enormity of what had just happened bringing tears to his eyes.

            Don sobbed silently, trying not to move as Leo finished with him and pulled out.  A brief respite, and then Leo said, “Lick.”

            Opening his eyes, Don saw through his tear hazed vision that Leo’s hand was in front of his face.  Covered in Don’s ejaculate, Leo was delivering a final humiliating blow.

            Chin quivering, Don opened his mouth and began to clean his own essence from his brother’s hand.  Leo spread his fingers and made sure that Donatello licked every square inch of skin clean before pulling his hand away.

            Standing up and leaning over Don from behind him, Leo said, “I’m going to reposition the camera in your lab.  I trust that I won’t find it’s been moved again?”

            Trailing his hands down across Don’s butt cheeks, Leo squeezed the skin along Don’s inner thighs.

            “You won’t, Master,” Don assured him in a shaky voice.

            “Then clean up this mess, including your toy,” Leo told him.  “When I get back, I want to see it on top of my desk and the rest of this floor spotless.  Take the bucket and sponge with you when you leave.”

            “Yes, Master,” Don managed to say, keeping his eyes on the floor.

            The sound of the lock clicking and the door opening reached Don.  Then Don heard Leo pause in the doorway and the younger turtle stiffened.

            “Next time you disobey me, I’m afraid I’ll have to resort to an even harsher punishment, Donatello.  Do we understand each other?” Leo asked.

            “Yes, Master,” Don said.

            Once Leo was gone, Don collapsed onto the floor and broke down.

TBC…………………….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This thought provoking image was created for this story by the amazing ashitarimai.  
> 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 3,912  
> Rating: NC-17 Contains TCest and non-consensual adult situations  
> Pairing: Leo/Don  
> Summary: The power of leadership goes to Leonardo's head and he acts it out on the one brother who usually obeys him without question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Preview image created by the very talented rainbowflyer.  
> 

            Don lay on his bed, his room dark, and tried to find something tangible to cling to that would explain what had just happened to him.  He needed to also find something that would explain what was happening to his family, and more importantly, what had happened to Leo.

            The Leo that he’d grown up with had never felt the need to use his abilities or his position in the family to control his brothers.  Sure, Mikey could be a handful at times, and Raph had a short fuse, but Leo had always found a way to direct their energies and get them to do what he needed for them to without resorting to physical violence.

            This behavior, this need to abuse to maintain control, was completely out of character for their confident and self-assured leader.  There was no history of abuse directed at Leonardo by their Father, there had never been a sense of entitlement in Leo’s personality; he had always worked hard for his position in the family.

            Leo had at times in his life worried overly much about his abilities, but that had never led to a feeling of low self-esteem.  It had instead usually filled him with an intense need to work harder and to ask his brothers to work harder.  There had been stormy periods in their lives when Leo had spent a lot of time second guessing himself and his decisions, but that never led to his trying to push those feelings away from himself and blame others for them.

            Don had managed to spend some time researching abusers and their victims.  In nothing that he’d read could he find the Leonardo he’d known for his entire life.  The mystery surrounding Master Splinter’s departure would have naturally caused Leo additional worry and anxiety, but not enough to completely change his personality.

            The change had occurred sometime after Master Splinter had left them; this much Don was able to pin down.  Don might not have been aware that something was happening at the time, but he did remember it was about then that Leo had begun to spend more time working with Raphael.

            Having been too caught up in his own feelings about their Father’s departure to do much more than redirect his attentions to his work, Don had failed to pick up on the signs that Leo’s behavior was changing.  He had noticed that Raph remained at home more and that Mikey’s smile and his bounce were gone, but Don had thought those were directly related to them missing their Father.

            The signs that they were being abused were very clear to Don now and he kicked himself for being so inattentive.  Maybe if he’d noticed everything early on, he could have intervened and stopped Leo from walking down this path to begin with.

            Don’s next question was, is this really Leo?  If this was truly his brother, then Don needed to discover the stressor that had caused such an unlikely and devastating change to occur.  Surely anything that could so radically alter a personality had to be visible to all of them, unless it was something that Leo had discovered in their sensei’s room.  So far, the only one who had been inside since Master Splinter left was Leo.

            Was the mystery behind Master Splinter’s departure so incredible that it had somehow driven Leonardo insane?  Don couldn’t in his wildest imaginings think of any scenario that would cause this particular change to Leo’s psyche.

            Of course, the problem could have begun long ago and just gotten worse when their Father left.  Maybe when Master Splinter walked out, Leo had stopped fighting whatever demon was taking control of his mind.

            Don doubted this was the case.  There was no way that Master Splinter would not have seen or sensed such a change in Leo.  And there was certainly no way their Father would have left knowing that Leo was in any way damaged.

            Sitting up carefully, Don tried to ignore the aching pain leftover from his encounter with Leo.  His mind was following a path that he felt certain would lead him to a solution to this mystery and he was determined to push everything aside while he reasoned his way through.

            Conclusion one; Leo was perfectly normal up until just after Master Splinter’s departure.  The facts and Don’s knowledge of their Father made this assumption plausible enough.

            Could he possibly also conclude that whatever had caused Master Splinter to leave was responsible for Leo’s change? No, not yet, not if Don was going to remain the detached analyst.  There wasn’t enough data to make that a logical hypothesis.  More information was needed.

            Don remembered that Leo was probably watching him through the camera mounted above his door.  If Don sat there staring into space, his brother would probably guess that Don was trying to figure out what was going on.  It didn’t require someone of Don’s intellect to know that Leo would have to be worried that Don could find a way to circumvent his authority.

            Raph and Mikey had tried to warn him because they knew that was true as well.  They had both told Don that their oldest brother wanted him most of all and Don thought he could understand why.  Partly it was Leo’s personality; whereas the two youngest were emotionally driven, Donatello had the ability to step back from his feelings.  Trying to break Don would be a greater challenge because of that fact.

            Don stood up slowly and gingerly walked over to where his small refrigerator sat.  Reaching inside, he got out a cold bottle of water and then made his way back to the bed.  He would have liked to sit at his desk, but even with a pillow on the chair Don knew it would hurt too much.

            Draining half the bottle, Don set the remainder on his nightstand and carefully lay back down, rolling onto his side so that Leo would only see his carapace.  Staring at his wall, Don continued his line of thought.

            He knew he was in for a tough time.  Leo was by no means done with him because no matter how hard Don tried to hide the fact that he was searching for solutions, Leo would know he hadn’t given up.  Don couldn’t give up; whatever happened, whatever tortures Leo contrived, Don didn’t have the ability to stop his mind from pursuing answers.  He couldn’t give in and therefore Leo was not going to let up on him.

            If he were Leo what would he do?  Certainly try to keep Don’s mind in constant turmoil so that he couldn’t concentrate.  Keep him on edge and second guessing every order given by Leo, never allowing the genius time to form cohesive thoughts.  Make sure Don didn’t have the time or energy to investigate anything.

            Nothing made sense.  Doing those things and the things he’d already done to Raph and Mike would destroy their team and surely Leo had to know that?  What was he really trying to accomplish?  Leo’s behavior was not engendering loyalty, it was fostering fear.

            If Don continued thinking about this from all angles, he had to return to the question he’d just asked himself - is this Leo?  Could something have possessed their leader?  Could this be something that was pretending to be Leo?  If that was the case, then where was Leo?

            If a transference of some kind took place, when could it have happened?  After Master Splinter left, Leo hadn’t gone anywhere alone, he was too concerned about how his younger brothers were reacting to their Father’s departure.  If fact, Leo had hardly stepped out of the lair.  The only place that he had been that his brother’s hadn’t been allowed to go was into Master Splinter’s bedroom.

            It kept coming back to their Father’s room.  The space was a nice size but not exceptionally large.  Master Splinter was by nature a minimalist, but he was also traditional and sentimental.  His room wasn’t cluttered, but there were keepsakes, mementos, and quite a collection of ancient artifacts, all of Japanese heritage.

            Don suddenly knew that he had to get into Master Splinter’s room.  There was just one huge, maybe insurmountable problem with that; Leo wasn’t going to let him in.  Leo had already told them all that Master Splinter’s room was off limits.  That had occurred  after he nearly chewed Raph’s head off for attempting to enter the room in search of something that would say where their Father had gone.

            Conclusion two; there was something in Master Splinter’s room that Leo did not want anyone else to see.  This conclusion was supported by facts.

            Making a mental list of the things he needed to do, at the top was finding a way to privately converse with both Raph and Mike.  Don had to find out from those two exactly what Master Splinter had said to them during each of their private meetings with him.  The clue Don needed might be in those conversations.  His own talk with his Father seemed innocuous enough on the surface, but maybe combined with the others certain words would take on new meaning.

            The next thing on his list was to get into Master Splinter’s room and search it thoroughly.  Don actually made himself laugh as he thought ‘I’ll just ask Leo if I can go in’.  There was no doubt in Don’s mind that Leo would not willingly let him examine their Father’s room.

            Under more normal conditions, Don would have asked Mike and Raph for their assistance, but he couldn’t risk doing that.  They were both too fragile and Don wasn’t sure that they wouldn’t say anything about it to Leo.  Don certainly did not want Leo tipped off as to what he was planning and both of his brothers had been abused enough to where they might believe that telling on Don was the best thing to do.

            Don’s mind next went to April and or Casey.  They hadn’t seen their friends since this situation had begun; Leo had made sure to tell them a story that would keep them both away.  How could Don contact April without Leo knowing?

            More importantly, did Don want to endanger either of his human friends by bringing them into this?  There was no telling what Leo might do to them.  With a sigh, Don knew that April would want to know what had happened and he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to tell her.

            There were so many things to do; so many questions to be answered, and it was going to be difficult to accomplish anything with a suspicious Leo hanging over his shoulder.  One misstep would earn Donatello more ‘punishment’.  One error in judgment would bring about additional ‘discipline’.

            Don didn’t harbor any illusions in that regard.  Leo was going to make sure that Don screwed up whether he really had or not.  Facing cold hard facts was part of Don’s nature; sugar coating things was not.  Leo was going to rape him again, probably frequently and probably with escalating violence.  This was a given under current conditions.

            The soreness and pain in his most private areas was all the reminder Don needed that Leo had no qualms about controlling his brothers by assaulting them.  Only by accepting this fact could Don continue to pursue solutions and not allow Leo into his head.  That was still Don’s private place.

            Don began to repeat the mantra, ‘It’s only my body; there is no permanent damage.  If Leo wants to use me that way, let him.  As long as I don’t let him mess with my head.’

            What was it that Mikey had said?  ‘Roll with it’.

            The one thing that Don knew he had to do immediately was allow no further harm to come to Raph and Mikey.  He was kicking himself for not noticing the changes in them, not noticing how jumpy they were or how out of character they were both behaving.

            Don had been enmeshed in his own little world and had left his younger brothers unprotected.  He was not going to be so self-involved from now on; Don would make whatever sacrifices were necessary to keep Leo off of Raph and Mikey.  Raph was too close to the edge right now, any further abuse would tip him over.

            With that thought in mind, Don forced himself to get out of bed.  He didn’t think Leo would prey on the others so soon after forcing Don to service him, but even a slight chance was too much.  Besides, there were things in his lab that Don could take to help him with the pain he was feeling.

            Two days passed in relative peace.  Apparently raping Don had mellowed Leo somewhat, and the mindless obedience from his three younger siblings was placating Leo’s need to dominate them.

            Don spent what free time he had in researching personality disorders, mind control, possession, and theories regarding body transference.  He carefully kept that from showing in his search history, allowing Leo to only see the harmless records of business directly related to running the lair.

            It was difficult to sort out the science fiction from the pure science fact.  Only an infinitesimal number of humans had ever actually experienced the sort of things Don and his brothers had faced many times.  The most memorable of those was when the time scepter, in the hands of evil, had sent him to another time line.  Don would have found the concept to be more fascinating if the situation hadn’t been so horrific.

            On the third day, Leo expressed irritation with his brother’s performance during practice and didn’t release them for several hours.  The mood that precipitated Leo’s need to discipline someone was returning; the signs all too familiar to Donatello now that he was looking for them.

            Don had told himself that he wasn’t going to waste his time waiting for the axe to fall, but he couldn’t help but be nervous.  He expected Leo to pounce on him at any moment; from his research Don knew the time between episodes would narrow.

            Mikey was apparently anticipating an attack on Donatello as well.  When Don had offered to help the youngest prepare dinner, Mikey had accepted with alacrity.

            Leo was in the dojo going through the time consuming ritual of cleaning his swords and Mikey seemed to want to talk knowing that they were relatively safe.  He just didn’t seem to know how to begin.

            “I’m okay, Mikey,” Don told him in a low voice, feeling as though that was the question at the top of Mikey’s mind.

            Mikey flashed him a relieved smile.  “Are you sure, bro’?  That was your third time in his room and I know . . .  I know what happens on the third time.  I saw how you were walking afterwards.”

            “It was unpleasant,” Don admitted, downplaying the attack.  “But I remembered that you told me to roll with it, so I did.  I’m less concerned with what he does to my body than I am with what has happened inside his head.”

            Mikey shivered.  “I envy you; how you can keep going and not dwell on what he did.  I hate it so much.  I don’t even wanna be in the same room with him anymore.  I don’t think I would even care if he got killed.”

            Don reached across the table and gripped Mikey’s wrist, stilling his brother’s hand for a moment.  Mikey had been pounding some chicken breasts with a mallet, and Don was afraid he was going to break the table from the force of the blows.

            “I’m not going to let him touch you again,” Don told him in the strongest voice he could muster.

            Mikey looked up at him, his blue eyes shimmering behind unshed tears.  “He’s gonna do whatever he wants Donny.  You can’t stop him.”

            “Don’t be too sure of that,” Don said confidently.  “Please don’t give up, Mikey.  Look, I know we might not be able to talk right now, but I need to know what Master Splinter said to you before he left.  His exact words as best you can.  Either we find a place and time that you can tell me, or write it down and slip it to me.  Trust me when I say that it’s important.”

            Before he answered, Mikey shot a quick frightened glance at the door.  “Okay,” he said in a whisper.  “I’ll do the best I can.  Just please eat the note afterwards so he doesn’t know I was helping you.”

            “I will, I promise,” Don said.

            Don thought that would be the end of the discussion; Mikey was obviously unnerved at the idea of getting caught talking about Leo.  After the chicken was in the oven and they were about to leave the kitchen, Mikey spun to face Don, stopping him before he stepped out.

            “Donny, if you can only save one of us, please save Raph,” Mikey whispered.  “L . . . Leo is harder on him; more cruel.  I think you can guess why.”

            “I won’t leave you, Mikey,” Don told him, searching his brother’s eyes.

            “He never kisses us,” Mikey said, the words so seemingly irrelevant that Don frowned.  “There’s no affection, he goes straight to business and then discards us once he’s done.  It’s just a game of control for him.  The power gets him off, not us.  But it still hurts that it’s him doing it, and that he doesn’t care.  Does that make sense?”

            Mikey was examining Don’s face, like he needed to find his courage there.  Don set a hand on his brother’s shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly before releasing him.

            “I think I understand,” Don answered.  “Let me work on this and remember what I told you; I won’t let him do that to you anymore.”

            The look his brother gave him was part pitying, part hopeful.  Once they’d separated, Don realized that Mikey’s expression mimicked Don’s feelings as well.  He could only hope that his confidence in keeping that promise wasn’t overblown.

            They all missed breakfast and lunch the next day; Leo was in a bad humor, much worse than the day before.  He worked them at practice with a ferocity that was brutal; making examples of whichever of his brother’s displeased him at any given moment.  Michelangelo was getting the worst of it, with Leo snapping at him about his focus and his commitment.  Don began to wonder if Leo knew that Mikey had talked to him, or if their leader was merely suspicious and becoming paranoid.

            At the end of practice, Leo ordered Mikey into the kitchen to prepare lunch.  To Don and Raph he said he expected them to remain in the dojo and work on their weight training, implying that they were both getting weak.

            Once Leo and Mikey had left the dojo, Raph went directly to his weight bench.  Don watched him for a moment, thinking this would be the perfect opportunity to talk to Raph under the auspices of spotting him.

            Something was nagging at him though; a pattern in Leo’s behavior that he had unconsciously begun to notice.  Leo had conveniently sent Mikey off by himself which seemed a contradiction based on the displeasure at Mikey’s work ethic that Leo had expressed.  If anyone was to be kept behind to work out more, it should have been Michelangelo.

            A deep feeling of dread settled in the pit of Don’s stomach and he left the dojo.  From the corner of his eye he saw Raph staring at him in shocked disbelief that Don would so blatantly disregard Leo’s direct orders.

            Halfway to the kitchen Don heard the sound of Leo’s voice; the icy tones a jolting counterpoint to Mikey’s low, frightened ones.  Moving faster, Don entered the room, quickly taking in the body language of his two brothers.  Mikey was turned sideways, almost as though he wanted to flee, while Leo was nearly up against him, one hand holding Mikey’s arm in a tight grip.

            Thinking to dispel the atmosphere, Don took a glass down from the cabinet and opened the refrigerator, grabbing the carton of milk and pouring himself a drink.  He felt rather than saw Leo look at him, but the oldest said nothing.

            At least not to Don.  Leo was saying plenty to Mikey.

            “. . . and you were purposely slacking off,” Leo finished whatever sentence he’d begun before Don came through the door.

            “I wasn’t, Leo,” Mikey said.  “Honestly.  I was trying really hard.  I’m just having a hard time concentrating lately.”

            “Then maybe you need some incentive,” Leo snapped, his beak curling in fury.

            Before either Don or Mikey could react, Leo jerked Mikey around so that he was in front of the table.  “Bend over, put your face down on the table, and grab the edges.”

            Don’s heart stopped and he froze in disbelief.  Surely Leo wasn’t planning to discipline Mikey right there in front of him.

            “No! No, Leo, please,” Mikey pleaded.

            “Do it now or your punishment is going to get worse,” Leo said harshly.

            Mikey stared at the table and swallowed, taking a deep shuddering breath before slowly starting to bend.  Apparently he wasn’t moving fast enough because Leo grabbed his shoulder and forced him down.

            When Leo grabbed Mikey’s tail and flipped it out of the way, Mikey began to whimper.  “Leo please, not dry.  Please, Leo, don’t!”

            Still petrified, Don realized that Leo was going to rape Mikey before an audience, and without using lube.  It was the cruelest thing Don could imagine Leo doing to one of his brothers.

            “Stop it, Leo,” Don said in a low, crisp voice.

            Leo ignored him.  With his hand pressed against the bulge in his slit, Leo was coaxing himself out of hiding, his eyes glued to Mikey’s ass.

            A bit louder, Don demanded, “Don’t do that, Leo.”

            Mikey’s breathing was loud and panicked.  Leo didn’t even bother to glance at Don, seeming to brush Don’s protests off as a nuisance.

            Carefully and deliberately, Don upturned his full glass of milk and poured it out onto the floor.  The sound of it splattering made Leo’s head jerk up to him, his mad eyes sliding over the mess and then fixing Don with his zealot’s gaze.

            “Clean that up,” Leo said slowly, enunciating each word clearly.

            “No,” Don said, just as distinctly.

            Leo’s eyes narrowed.  “Clean it up now, Donatello.”

            Don’s mouth turned up into a small smile as he opened his hand and let the glass drop from it.  Leo’s eyes were locked on Don’s as the glass shattered on the floor.

            Leo released Mikey and stepped back, his mouth compressed into a thin line.  Then he smiled and Don knew that Leo understood what he was doing.

            “It’s time for you to come upstairs,” Leo said.

            Don lifted his head, no sign of fear on his face or in his posture as he announced, “You’re a bully.”

            Striding forward, heedless of the glass, Leo grabbed Don’s arm and half dragged him from the kitchen.  Over his shoulder, Leo flung back at Mikey, “Clean up that mess.”

            As Leo pulled him up the staircase, Don hoped that he hadn’t gone too far.  He wasn’t going to be of much future use to either of his brothers if he was dead.

TBC………………..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This image was created for this chapter by the very gifted altusterra.  
> 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 3,971  
> Rating: NC-17 Contains TCest and non-consensual adult situations  
> Pairing: Leo/Don  
> Summary: The power of leadership goes to Leonardo's head and he acts it out on the one brother who usually obeys him without question.

            Don could have easily pulled free from Leo’s hold, but a quick glance across the lair as Leo yanked him up the stairs strengthened his resolve.  Mikey had followed them from the kitchen and was staring up at Don, his blue eyes wide.  Raphael stood in the doorway to the dojo, his mouth a grim line and his hands curled around the hilts of his sais.

            It was his promise to Mikey that made Don’s feet find the stair treads and continue to climb towards Leo’s room.  Turning to run from this would only make things worse for all of them.  Whatever happened, Don was determined to survive it in order to prove to Mike and Raph that he would keep his word.

            That resolution made him turn his head and offer Mikey a brief smile and then to also catch Raph’s eyes.  Shaking his head slightly, Don conveyed the desire that his hot headed brother remain calm and do nothing.

            Leo was silent in his anger as he flung open his bedroom door, propelling Donatello inside with a hard shove.  As Don looked around for some clue as to what might happen next, he heard the door close and the lock click into place.

            Don was starting to turn towards his brother when Leo flattened the palm of his hand on Don’s carapace and pushed him towards the bed.  When they were a couple of feet away, Leo stopped shoving, but his hand stayed on Don’s shell.

            “Get on the bed,” Leo growled menacingly.

            “No,” Don said, determined to remain defiant.

            Leo yanked the bo from Don’s belt so fast that Don barely had time to register he’d been disarmed.  Then the heavy wooden staff struck him across the back of his legs.

            With a shout, Don collapsed to his knees, excruciating pain radiating through his body.  He barely had time to draw a breath when Leo slammed into his carapace, pushing Don face down onto the bed, leaving his lower half dangling over the edge.

            Don tried to dig into the floor with his toes and slide out from under his brother, but Leo was gripping the back of his neck.  The tableau held for half a minute and then Don began to lift himself off of the bed with Leo riding his back.

            Leo was definitely the faster of the two, but Don was stronger.  He could winch engines out of cars all by himself and knew in a battle of muscle, he could take his brother.

            Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, Don forgot that Leo didn’t need to rely on brute force.  Leo was a master ninja, and as such, he possessed an unmatched skill at crippling by use of pressure points.

            A stabbing pain pierced his lats and Don lost the use of his arms, falling once more flat against the mattress.  His upper body twitched and Don groaned when he realized that he was completely paralyzed from the waist up.

            “When are you going to learn, Donatello?” Leo grunted, laying across Don’s carapace so he could rasp into Don’s ear slits.  “You can’t fight me, you can’t save your brothers, and this little game of yours is going to stop.”

            Without waiting for a response, Leo slid down from Don’s body and settled into place between his younger brother’s legs.  When Leo shoved them further apart it gave Don even less leverage to use his feet and he could only wait helplessly for whatever was going to happen next.

            “Tail,” Leo husked, his voice deeply guttural.

            Don hadn’t heard Leo go for the lube and knew immediately that Leo wasn’t going to prep him.  Fear lit a fire in his chest and his pressed his tail tightly down against his entrance.

            “I know you’re angry,” Don managed to say in a somewhat level tone of voice, “but unless you want to seriously injure me, you know you can’t go in dry.”

            Don was breathing hard, his pulse racing.  He heard a low chuckle come from his brother, and then Leo wrapped a hand around Don’s tail, forcing it out of the way.

            “Always so rational,” Leo said, his tone nasty.  “You want to be prepped; then I’ll prep you.”

            Don heard Leo clear his throat and spit, feeling the splatter of wetness against his anus a second later.  Leo swirled a finger in the spittle and shoved both roughly into Don, quickly sawing in and out of him a few times. 

            The liquid barely helped to ease the pain of Leo’s finger sliding into him and Don gasped, holding his breath as Leo finally yanked his finger free.  Leo spit again and the squelching sound that followed told Don that his brother was lubing his cock.

            Don’s tail was trying to pull free from Leo’s grasp to no avail.  To add insult to injury, his brother was squeezing and stroking the short appendage and it was starting to respond favorably to the attention.

            Then Leo drove into him and Don forgot everything as horrible pain pierced his inner core.  White hot lancing barbs of pure agony made Don cry out and twist his head so that he could bite the sheets that were bunched beneath his face.

            “Stop . . . fighting me, Donatello,” Leo grunted, his pace hard and fast as he raped his brother.  “You have . . .  to learn discipline . . . to learn . . . how to obey . . . .”

            “You don’t care about discipline!” Don shouted, pain making him reckless.  “It’s just an excuse for you to brutalize us!”

            “You want . . . it!” Leo yelled, slamming into Don’s body.  “You asked . . . for it!”

            “I asked you not to rape Mikey,” Don insisted.  “You’ve become a brutal beast, driven by lust for your own brothers!”

            “Stop talking,” Leo hissed.  His hand suddenly came down on the back of Don’s head and he pushed his brother’s face into the mattress.

            The bedding balled up beneath Don’s mouth, effectively gagging him.  With his nostrils plugged by the mattress, Don couldn’t breathe.  Frantic, he tried to shake Leo’s hand loose, but his brother was leaning into him as he reached for his orgasm, ignoring Don’s desperate struggles.

            Leo’s heavy breathing and harsh groans of pleasure drowned out Don’s whimpers.  The fight for freedom expelled what oxygen had been left in Don’s lungs and the room started to feel like it was spinning.

            As Leo’s movements grew more frenetic, Don began to fade out.  Unable to pull air into his body, Don lost consciousness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Voices.  Raph’s, harsh and rasping.  Mikey’s pleas; the tone almost begging.

            Noises.  The creak of a door.  A fist slamming into something hard.

            Sounds.  The television blaring.  Something skittering across the concrete floor.

            Murmurs.  Master Splinter’s voice from a distance, _“Stay strong, strong, strong . . . .”_

            Dark laughter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Don’s eyes snapped open as he woke, abruptly and fully.  Momentarily disoriented, he stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling and tried to remember where he was.  The events from before he had passed out finally came back to him and he realized that he was still in Leo’s room and was apparently lying on Leo’s bed.

            When Don tried to move he discovered that his arms and legs were bound, his wrists tied to pipes that ran along the walls at the head of Leo’s bed.  Both of Don’s ankles had ropes wrapped around them, each tied to the bed frame, leaving Don spread eagled and uncomfortably vulnerable.

            After pulling at the ropes to determine their strength and then giving up on the notion of snapping them, Don stopped struggling in order to assess his situation.  It was then he noticed that his painfully abused bottom was filled with something; something that was moving.

            Don shifted his hips to try and dislodge what he guessed was the vibrator, but it didn’t budge.  A low chuckle greeted his attempts, the sound coming from a shadowed corner of the room, which was now lit only by candles.

            Turning his head, Don watched as Leo glided closer to him.  Neither said a word for several minutes as Leo’s gaze slowly raked across Don’s prone form.  Stripped of his mask and gear, Don had never felt more naked in his life.

            Don was desperate to know how badly Leo had injured him; the backs of his legs hurt, likely bruised by the bo staff, and his ass ached, but not as badly as it should have.  Had his brother inflicted so much damage that the nerves that carried pain receptors were no longer capable of signaling his brain?

            Leo seemed to read his mind.  “I coated the vibrator with lidocaine ointment; I found it in the medicine cabinet in your lab.  It serves two purposes; to numb the pain and to keep you lubricated.”

            “Da  . . . .” Don coughed and cleared his throat.  “How much damage?” he whispered.

            “Some tearing but nothing too bad,” Leo told him, his hooded eyes still examining his brother’s body.  “The spit helped, but the precome helped more.  I was very, very anxious.”

            “Yeah, because it was all about teaching me a lesson,” Don said sarcastically.

            A corner of Leo’s mouth twitched.  “You’re still in need of a lesson,” Leo said.  “I knew you would be, that’s why you’re in this predicament.  Of my three brothers, you are the most obstinate.  You always have been, Donny; you just can’t leave well enough alone.”

            “It doesn’t matter how hard any of us tries to follow your rules, does it Leo?” Don asked scathingly.  “You’ll always find fault and you’ll always see to it that we break your rules.  You’ve got some sadistic need to exert control by force and the only way you can achieve sexual gratification is by assaulting us.  If that weren’t true, I wouldn’t be tied to this bed with a vibrator shoved up inside of me.  No matter what you say about trying to teach us to follow orders, this is no way to go about doing that.”

            “You know I always plan in advance,” Leo said.  “This is the emergency plan in case you were determined to continue being defiant.  It looks like you have decided to do just that.”

            Don laughed shortly.  “Oh I’m sure that if I had awakened to spew apologies and plead for your forgiveness you would have untied me and let me go.  Maybe you can make the others believe that, but I don’t.  The pleading gets you off just as much as the torture does.  I’m not going to feed your illness.”

            Unexpectedly, Leo slid onto the bed next to Don.  Lying on his side so he could face his younger brother, Leo lightly stroked Don’s cheek.

            “Do you know what has happened because of your decision to stand up to me?” Leo asked.  “Raphael and Michelangelo both confronted me with concerns about your well-being.  My good little pets are trying to re-grow their spines.  Just when I had them trained to never question my commands, you defy me and have them thinking that’s a perfectly acceptable thing to do.”

            “If you expect me to tell them that I willingly accept this behavior from you just so you can get them back into line, forget it,” Don said.  “I can’t believe what you’ve turned into.  What happened to you, Leo?  Was it something that Master Splinter said?  Was it his leaving us that triggered such extremes?”

            “Questions; always with the questions,” Leo said, his hand now playing across Don’s neck and collarbones.  “That’s the best thing and the worst thing about you.  You don’t know when to stop digging, even when it isn’t healthy for you to continue.”

            “I care about my brothers,” Don shot back.  “You used to care about us too.  Do you even understand what you were going to do to Mikey over such a minor lapse in his concentration?  Do you even understand how badly you could have injured me if I hadn’t said anything?  Leo, you have to stop this now, you have to let me go.  Whatever is happening to you, I’ll help you fix it.”

            “I’m quite capable of offering inducements and rewards for good behavior,” Leo said, ignoring Don’s plea.  “Not everything has to be a punishment, Donny.  You’re wrong about me.”

            His hand trailed along the skin above Don’s plastron, the fingertips brushing back and forth.  After a moment, the caress moved lower as Leo began to rub Donatello’s scutes.

            “Leo, look at me,” Don urged desperately.  “Our lives depend on you.  We need for you to be whole.  This thing you’re doing is going to destroy us.”

            “Discipline,” Leo husked as his hand slipped between Don’s legs.  “You need discipline.  The best armies operate on it and it is sorely lacking in this family.  I’m going to make sure we are all on the right track.”

            He pushed against the vibrator that continued to buzz inside of Don, shoving it until it touched the bundle of nerves that was Don’s prostate.  With a grunt, Don’s hips lifted from the bed and he shook in reaction to the unwanted pleasure.

            “Your punishment isn’t over yet,” Leo whispered.  “But this time I’ll go easier on you.  You’ll be well lubricated and stretched.”

            “Don’t,” Don said, his voice cracking.  “Leo, that’s enough.  Please stop.”

            “Remember what you told me when I asked you to clean up your mess?” Leo asked.  “In case you don’t, I’ll give you the same answer.  No.”

            Once more Leo pushed against the vibrator, making Donatello shudder and groan.  Then Leo’s hand slid back up so that he could begin teasing the softer cartilage in Don’s plastron behind which his manhood was hidden.

            Don stared at his brother, eyes wide.  “What are you doing?”

            “While it’s true your lesson isn’t over, I do believe you deserve a reward for all of the extra work you’ve done in installing those cameras.  And for being so concerned about your brother’s feelings,” Leo said with a half-smile.

            Before Don could respond, Leo shifted so that he was looming over Don’s body.  Giving his brother a last enigmatic look, Leo slid downwards until he was perched on his knees between Don’s legs.

            Using one hand, Leo began to carefully stroke and pull Don’s sensitive tail.  The other hand continued to entice the growing bulge beneath Don’s plastron, causing his penis to respond to the stimulation in spite of himself.

            Don tried to think while Leo worked him up, forcing his mind to attempt to process Leo’s actions.  In just the span of time that Don lay unconscious, Leo had gone from brutality to this strange manipulative behavior.

            It was hard for Don to focus on anything with Leo’s thumb sliding alongside of his penis.  When Leo suddenly leaned forward and swiped his tongue across the now gaping opening in Don’s plastron, the genius gasped.

            Leo repeated the maneuver and Don found that he had become painfully hard beneath his shell.  Trying to hold himself in was torture and he realized that the longer he fought what Leo was trying to do to him, the longer he would be unable to concentrate on his situation.  If that was what Leo was counting on, Don decided to surprise him.

            With a sigh, Don allowed Leo to coax his cock into the open.  Relaxing as much as he could, Don gave his entire attention to the erotic feeling of a hand other than his own stroking his hard shaft.

            Then Leo’s mouth engulfed him and Don had to fight to catch his breath.  As unwanted as this blow job was, Don focused on how his body was responding, getting into the moment as he let the sensation overwhelm him.  He could feel his approaching orgasm as his groin caught fire and the muscles in his sphincter began to spasm.

            Don climaxed with a strangled cry, his arms and legs twitching as they pulled against the ropes that were holding his body in place.  To his surprise, Leo didn’t move away, his mouth remaining on Don’s penis as it sprayed forth its milky load.

            Eyes closed, Don’s head fell back against the pillow, his mouth open as he fought for air.  The vibrator still moved inside of him, but Don was too limp to really feel it, barely comprehending the touch of Leo’s tongue against his now flaccid organ.

            The bed dipped on either side of Don’s body, but he didn’t register the meaning until Leo’s lips were touching his.  Don’s eyes snapped open and he stared at his brother in stunned disbelief.  Leo’s mouth was insistent, the pressure against Don’s keeping it open so that Leo could thrust his tongue into Don’s mouth.

            A wet substance began to trickle down Donatello’s throat and he realized that Leo still had a mouthful of Don’s semen.  When Don tried to turn his head away, Leo flattened his body against his brothers and caught Don’s temples between his hands.  Holding Don firmly in place, Leo flicked his tongue around inside Don’s mouth, painting the interior with cum.

            Leo pulled back with a satisfied slurp, his face hovering inches above Don’s as he smiled his satisfaction.  Don swallowed; it was either that or gag and the latter would not have met with Leo’s approval.

            The smile on Leo’s face broadened.  “You see Donny?  We share everything.  You’ll always be with me, won’t you?  I satisfy your needs and you satisfy mine.  It’s because you’re special; you’re my secret weapon.  I can get muscle anywhere, but you are something my enemies can’t duplicate.  You are my advantage.”

            Don’s brow furrowed in puzzlement as he stammered, “What . . . what are you t . . . talking about?”

            “Clan loyalty,” Leo said, his eyes feverish.  Once more his lips pressed insistently against Don’s, his tongue wrapping around his younger brother’s.

            Leo pulled his legs up so that he was straddling Don’s pelvis as he continued to kiss him.  Relinquishing his hold on Don’s face, Leo used one hand to lightly cup Don’s throat while the other brushed down along his brother’s exposed side.  Don felt Leo’s fingers slide across his hip and then dip between his legs.

            The movement of the vibrator as Leo thrust it in and out of Don was both slow and steady.  His older brother seemed to be teasing Don as much as prepping him and though Don had already released, the feeling became provocative after a few moments.

            Don didn’t think he had given Leo any kind of a sign to that effect, but he must have done something, because suddenly Leo pulled the vibrator completely out of his brother.  It was quickly replaced by Leo’s finger, but rather than inserting the digit into Donatello, Leo began to rub slow, gentle circles around Don’s anus.

            After the earlier abuse the soft tease of Leo’s finger, wet from the lubed vibrator, felt surprisingly soothing against the tears in Don’s skin.  In fact, it began to feel amazingly good.  Leo’s tongue lapped at Don’s while he tickled his younger brother’s tender entrance and after several moments, Leo carefully pressed his digit into Don.

            All thoughts of using the time to study Leo were pushed aside as Don started to harden once more.  Leo began a slow humping motion against Don’s pelvis and when something solid thumped against Don’s lower plastron, he knew it was Leo’s thick member.

            In another moment Don realized that Leo’s movements weren’t random.  His older brother’s cock came into contact with Don’s and the touch nearly electrified the genius’ system.

            With absolute precision, Leo rubbed his shaft against Don’s.  Leo’s tongue continued to own Don’s mouth and his finger pushed further into the bound Turtle.

            Don had absolutely no idea that he was going to churr until the sound rumbled up from his chest.  Leo responded with a churr of his own, the sound vibrating their tightly wound tongues.

            Their cocks slipped and slid against each other as precome slicked both shafts.  Finally Leo pulled his mouth away, leaned in to kiss his brother’s neck, and then adjusted his position so that his legs were once more between Don’s.

            Removing his finger, Leo reached up to wrap a hand around Don’s straining penis.  With the other gripping Don’s upper thigh, Leo bent his head so that he could watch his cock’s slow slide into his brother’s body.

            Leo’s hold on his pulsating cock helped Don relax as his brother pushed all of the way into his abused ass.  The pain was minimal as Leo began to rape him again, due in large part to the gentle rhythm and easy pace that Leo was setting.

            Don’s mind was in total confusion.  This behavior was not due to a split personality disorder; Leo spouted the same philosophy as before and was absolutely cognizant of everything he had done to his brothers.  It was just that Leo seemed to be changing, adjusting his interactions so that he was sharing more and taking less.

            But only with Donatello it appeared.  Because Don remembered what Mikey had said, that Leo never kissed them.  Kissing was a personal, loving act, and what Leo had been doing to Mike and Raph had nothing to do with love.

            Why, why, why?  The questions swirled around in Don’s brain and then faded into the background again as Leo began to stroke Don’s cock in time with his own thrusts.

            Once more Don gave himself over to feelings; letting his brother bring him to orgasm and then drifting on the high of his release as he listened to Leo grunt and churr through his own.  Through heavily lidded eyes, Don watched Leo’s face, observing the obvious ecstasy cross his brother’s features, but also catching a glimpse of something that almost looked like joy and triumph.

            When Leo’s cock slipped out of him, the eldest moved up to lie next to Don as he’d done before.  Don turned his head to look at Leo and found that his brother was gazing at him tenderly.  Without saying a word, Leo began to pet Don’s face as his eyes drifted shut.

            Within moments, Leo was sound asleep.  Don could feel the exhaustion from his ordeal trying to overtake him, but he forced himself to stay awake so that he could study Leo up close.

            _“. . . you’re my secret weapon.  I can get muscle anywhere, but you are something my enemies can’t duplicate.  You are my advantage.”_ Leo’s words played through Don’s mind as he tried to make sense of them.  His brother had emphasized ‘my enemies’, as though they were his alone. 

            Leonardo had no enemies that did not also belong to the rest of his family.  He should have said ‘our enemies’.  Don replayed their conversation through his mind and noted that it was just after he had offered to help Leo fix whatever was happening to him that his older brother had gone from crippling brutality to gentle caresses.

            The Leo that Don had grown up with knew without any hint of doubt that Don was always there for him.  His Leo knew that Don would follow him to hell and shove a stick of dynamite up the devil’s ass if Leo asked him to.

            Don’s eyes narrowed as he scanned Leo’s face, neck, and the upper part of his plastron.  After so many years, so many fights, and so many patch jobs, Don knew every nick and scar on all three of his brother’s bodies.

            With unerring accuracy Don picked out the ones he remembered, but along with those were some he’d never seen before.

            This was not his Leonardo.

TBC……………..


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 3,945  
> Rating: NC-17 Contains TCest and non-consensual adult situations  
> Pairing: Leo/Don  
> Summary: The power of leadership goes to Leonardo's head and he acts it out on the one brother who usually obeys him without question.

            Movement and motion woke Don from a fitful sleep.  He felt something warm and wet slide across his pulse point and then move to his jaw line.  Reluctantly opening his eyes, Don saw his pseudo-brother hovering over him.

            Leo lowered his body onto Don’s as he continued to nip and caress Don’s skin with his mouth.  Don tried to move his arms but discovered that they were still firmly bound.

            To his surprise, Don found that his ankles were no longer secured to the bed.  Although Leo was between Don’s legs, the younger Turtle had complete freedom of movement from the waist down.

            With a flash of insight, Don realized that his limited freedom was a test.  Leo wanted, _needed_ , to know if Don would acquiesce to his dominance and simply lie there, or if he would continue with his defiant attitude and attempt to fight Leo’s advances.  A third alternative would have Don become a willing participant.

            Intuitively, Don knew that fighting in conventional terms wasn’t going to achieve his goals or help him to gather needed information.  This Leo expected that behavior from Mikey and Raph and seemed determined to maintain the status quo.  From Don he appeared to require something more and Don was intelligent enough to know when to dangle his bait.

            With careful deliberateness, Don shifted his hips beneath Leo and then lifted a leg so that he could caress the back of Leo’s calf with his foot.

            The effect was immediate as Leo moaned softly; rising up higher on Don’s body so that he could capture his mouth.

            Leo’s tongue tasted stale and slightly bitter, but Don maintained contact with it, matching Leo’s fervor as much as possible.  Don was a quick study; finding exactly how to move his tongue in a manner that began to draw churrs from Leo.

            In less than a minute, Don felt Leo’s erection pressing against his lower plates.  Leo let his weight settle on Don so that he could use both of his hands to pet and stroke Don’s body, unerringly finding places that titillated the inexperienced genius.

            Before long Don’s chest was heaving, both from lack of breath and the exertion of keeping his arousal hidden.  He too had begun to churr and rather than over thinking the moment, Don allowed himself to move into it as he had done before.

            Leo must have felt the growing bulge beneath Don’s plastron, because he brought his hands up to either side of his brother’s shoulders and lifted himself off of Don.  Breaking their kiss, Leo stared into Don’s eyes, his own amber gaze glittering with desire.

            With a shudder, Don dropped down, his penis erect and quickly growing harder.  Tilting his head down further, Leo looked between them, twisting his body so that his cock would come into contact with Don’s.

            Don gasped as Leo’s solid shaft grazed the underside of his own.  It felt like an electrical current had shot through his system as their penises touched.  Balancing himself on one hand, Leo reached between them to grasp both of their erections, squeezing them together until it was nearly painful.  Very carefully, he began to stroke them, a simultaneous masturbation that had Don’s eyes rolling back in his head.

            Panting lightly, Don felt the growing sensation of his impending release move throughout his lower extremities.  He was an active participant in this erotic dance with Leo; lifting his hips to encourage his pseudo-brother.

            Leo suddenly bent down to steal another probing kiss from Donatello, releasing the hold he had on their cocks.  Don groaned in protest; he had been so close and all he wanted was for Leo to finish him.

            The gurgle that vibrated Leo’s tongue inside Don’s mouth told the genius that the older Turtle found Don’s impatience to be amusing.  The kiss that Leo plied his brother’s mouth with conveyed real feeling; it wasn’t manipulative or controlling.  Leo seemed desperate for Don to enjoy it, so the genius let the erotic sensation of their twining tongues stimulate him.

            For a brief moment, Don wondered if this was how streetwalkers endured the ignobility of their chosen profession, but pushed the thought aside swiftly.  He was acting a part and couldn’t for even a second allow his brain to supersede the pure physicality of his actions.

            Leo appeared satisfied with Don’s reaction, because he pulled away from the kiss, gently licking Don’s lips before sliding into a now familiar position between the younger Turtle’s legs.  Don’s eyelids fluttered as he felt the tip of Leo’s cock touch his entrance; his pseudo-brother hadn’t brought out the lubricant and Don mentally braced himself for another painful intrusion.

            Moving very slowly, Leo inched his way past the tight ring of muscle that protected Don’s anus.  Rather than causing pain, Leo’s cock slid in with ease and Don realized that he was still heavily lubricated and stretched from their earlier session.  Likewise, Leo had been leaking copious amounts of precome and that was helping to slick Don’s passage.

            In order to show Leo that he was fully involved, Don rocked back on his carapace, lifting his hips into a better position for Leo’s entry.  The churr that action pulled out of Leo was gratifying, and once Leo’s cock was buried up to the hilt inside Don’s ass, the bottoming Turtle lifted his legs and wrapped them around Leo’s hips.

            Encouraged by Don’s submissive behavior, Leo began to thrust, his pace slow and gentle.  The consideration that Leo was showing him helped to ease the pain of being filled once more and gradually discomfort gave way to something more pleasurable.

            Don’s cock bounced between them; impossibly hard, it made Don groan for some type of friction to relieve his growing need.  When Leo hit his prostate, Don bit off a yelp, his entire body quivering as he began to think that he might reach climax without having been touched.

            Leo’s hand was suddenly between them; gripping Don’s cock with the perfect amount of force.  Slick with Don’s precome, Leo’s fist made a squelching sound as he pumped his brother’s cock, the rhythm matching almost perfectly Leo’s thrusts.  It was as though Leo was determined that Don understand the correlation between Leo’s actions and the pleasure Don was receiving.

            The knowledge that this was not his real brother helped Don maintain his focus on his body’s reaction to stimuli.  In his mind, Don pretended that he had taken a lover who cared about nothing more than providing Don with physical satisfaction.

            Leo was moving incredibly fast inside of him; driving harder as he reached for his peak.  Don encouraged him further by tightening his legs around Leo; pulling his pseudo-brother even closer.

            That action brought Leo’s cock into contact with the nerves in Don’s prostate.  Two direct strikes later and Don didn’t bother to mask his shout as he orgasmed.

            Leo’s climax quickly followed as he buried himself inside his brother and filled Don with his seed.

            Gasping for air, Don’s legs slid off Leo’s body and fell against the bed, trembling from exertion.  With his eyes closed, Don concentrated on the feeling of his cock receding into its hidden pouch, choosing to ignore the fact that Leo was still embedded in his core.

            As Leo pulled out of him, a gush of warmth spilled out over Don’s tail; a sticky reminder that Don had just engaged in sexual intercourse.  With a stranger wearing his brother Leonardo’s face.

            Don could feel Leo’s gaze boring into him and opened his eyes.  Leo was studying him intently, his chest rising and falling swiftly as he struggled to regain his breath.  Maintaining a look of passivity, Don didn’t have to try to appear sleepy because he actually was. 

            Leo crawled forward carefully, his eyes never leaving Don’s.  The practiced movement reminded Don of when Leo stalked their enemies; the fierceness of his scrutiny unnerving.

            Straddling Don’s stomach, Leo pressed the palms of his hands against the bound Turtle’s cheeks and leaned down until their eyes were close together.  Leo said nothing as he stared into Don’s rich brown orbs.

            Don in turn took the opportunity to study Leo’s eyes, wondering now how he could have missed the slight hint of madness and obsession that was in them.  His Leonardo’s eyes often sparked with intense determination and resolve, but never did they hold the kind of malice Don had seen when this Leo looked at the youngest pair of brothers.

            With a slowness that was almost maddening, Leo closed the gap between them and once again touched his lips to Don’s.  Leo’s eyes were wide and staring as he urged his brother’s mouth to open, his tongue darting inside as soon as Don’s lips parted.

            Don’s eyelids slipped down to the halfway point as he feigned enjoyment, even conjuring a moan up from his throat.  After a moment, Leo’s eyes closed completely and he relaxed into the kiss, a low churr vibrating his chest.

            The kiss ended when Leo was too sleepy to continue it.  Toppling over onto his carapace next to Don, Leo practically passed out.  The strain of his pretense and physical activity was too much for Don and he quickly fell asleep as well.

            When Don next woke it was to almost complete darkness.  He had no idea how much time had passed, but seeing that the shorter candles had burned down completely, Don guessed that it had been a couple of hours.

            It was Leo’s touch that had once more awakened Don.  His pseudo-brother was laying on his side, pressed against Don, one hand between Don’s legs.  Leo’s hips moved as he rubbed what was already a good sized erection against Don’s outer thigh.  The playful hand was busily toying with Don’s tail and the tingling sensation coming from that sensitive appendage was what had drawn the genius out of his slumber.

            Don sighed deeply, wondering at Leo’s insatiable appetite.  The sound drew Leo upwards and the hand between Don’s legs stroked a path along the younger Turtle’s scutes, coming to rest on Don’s shoulders.  Without a word, Leo slid his tongue onto Don’s collar bone and across his face until it came to rest on Don’s lips.

            The sigh had apparently been taken for an invitation and Don accepted both Leo’s interpretation and his tongue.   As the erotic dance played out inside their mouths, Leo’s hands were busily touching Don, as though striving to memorize every inch of his body.

            Don knew that Leo had already been incredibly hard before the kiss began and had to be in some amount of pain, but he seemed intent on arousing Don as well.  Leo’s hand found Don’s slit and he worked the side of his thumb into the opening so that he could rub against the genius’ shaft.

            Sore and aching from too much use and abuse, Don’s cock still responded to the stimulation, inflating quickly.  Inhaling sharply through his nostrils, Don succumbed to Leo’s talented hand and allowed his erection to tumble into the open.  Leo greedily grabbed it, squeezing and stroking Don’s cock until it was full and throbbing.

            Then Leo did something surprising after he released Don from their kiss; he drew a tanto from beneath the mattress and sliced through the ropes that were binding Don’s wrists overhead.  Slightly numb, Don’s arms hit the bed and then the unpleasant feeling of pins and needles crawled along his skin.

            While Don tried to coax feeling back into his arms, Leo moved down his brother’s body until his face was level with Don’s cock.  With a churr, Leo swallowed Don’s erection.

            With total freedom came the decision to try and get away, or to continue to play the part of mesmerized lover.  Escape from the room, even if it had been possible, wasn’t a prudent choice and Don knew he had to remain in character.  Finding his hands were now useful, Don grasped a double handful of Leo’s sheets and held on tightly as his pseudo-brother coaxed another orgasm from him.

            Spent and shaking, Don barely registered that Leo was lifting his legs and positioning them across his shoulders.  The feeling of being penetrated for the fourth time in one night caused him no more than a mild burn.

            It was difficult to fake enthusiasm for their coupling, but Don managed it.  Endorphins had kicked in and Don felt a heady euphoria from them which helped as he moved his hips to meet Leo’s thrusts.  Don’s churrs seemed to boost Leo’s excitement and within minutes he came, spilling hotly inside his younger brother.

            This time there was no intense study of Don’s facial expression, no trying to see inside Don’s head.  Leo swarmed over Don and wrapped himself around the genius.  Trembling, Don lifted his arms and returned the embrace.

            “Sleep, Donny, sleep,” Leo crooned, stroking his brother’s face.  “It’s all us now; I’ll take care of you, you’ll take care of me.  Forever.”

            Exhausted, Don almost made the mistake of protesting, but caught himself in time.  Instead, he gave Leo a sated smile, curling his hand over Leo’s shoulder and snuggling against him.  Don felt Leo’s hold on him tighten and then Don’s eyelids, too heavy to remain open any longer, slid shut and sweet oblivion took him from Leo’s grasp.

            An alarm clock, _his_ alarm clock, buzzed maddeningly; just out of reach it grew louder with each passing moment that it was ignored.  Don frowned in annoyance; between dreaming and waking the incessant noise refused to let him alone.

            Don’s eyes snapped open when it came to him that this was the sound that warned him it was time to get up or face Leo’s punishment.  Once he could see, the realization that he was in Leonardo’s bedroom brought back a rush of memories that hit him like a tidal wave.

            Leo was nowhere to be seen and Don was no longer tied to his pseudo-brother’s bed.  Flinging his legs to the side and sitting up quickly, Don groaned as sharp pain lanced through his nether regions.  Practice was going to be pure torture.

            After such a long night of physical exertion, the fact that Leo had still managed to rise early, retrieve and set up Don’s alarm clock, and disappear into the dojo as was his usual habit was disconcerting.  It spoke volumes about the resolve of this Leo; it was not unlike Don’s real brother’s dedication, but its purpose was much more insidious.

            Don’s gaze fell on Leo’s desk as he tried to collect the mental fortitude necessary for rising.  Leo wouldn’t come back upstairs; he’d left the alarm clock as his surrogate for getting Don out of bed.  If there were clues to who this Leo was, this room was where they’d be and that desk was the only place in this Spartan room where Leo could hide anything.

            Grimacing, Don pushed himself up to a standing position and then didn’t move for a full minute as he waited for his body to adjust somewhat.

            Limping over to the desk, Don studied it for a moment without touching anything.  He knew this desk well; it was one he’d found at the junkyard, something he immediately knew would appeal to Leo.  It had clean lines and no fancy flourishes, was well made and heavy.  Don had a shell of a time hoisting it onto his shoulders so that he could transport it to the van.

            There was some slight damage to the wood; scratches and one place where the wood had been gouged, but Don knew he could repair those easily.  The only reason he could think of for its disposal was that it had belonged to someone with enough money to toss imperfections and purchase something new to replace it.  He vaguely wondered about what kind of relationships people like that had.

            Sanded and varnished, the desk had been the most beautiful piece of furniture they possessed.  Don had presented it to Leo with a wide smile and his usually stoic brother had been completely floored.  The mist that had covered Leo’s eyes was quickly blinked away, but not before Don had seen it.

            That was one of Don’s favorite memories and he was damned well not going to let this fake Leo ruin it for him.

            Squatting in front of it, Don first checked for anything that would give away his search.  As he suspected, an almost invisible thread was balanced on top of the center drawer.  Pseudo-Leo was not very trusting.

            Listening intently for sounds outside the room, Don carefully removed the thread and set it aside.  He slid the drawer open and his beak wrinkled in disgust as he surveyed the contents; jells, oils, and lubricants of all kinds.  Several anal toys rolled around as Don pulled the drawer out further.

            Nothing useful came to light other than to give Don a better idea of this Leo’s depravity.  Closing the drawer, Don turned to the top one on the left.  Making sure it wasn’t also marked, Don opened it.

            The toys in this one were larger, extremely varied, and included some bondage gear.  Don had to change his opinion of pseudo-Leo; depraved didn’t even come close to describing him.

            Amongst the things in this drawer that Don recognized was a ball gag and a urethral catheter.  He shut the drawer with a prayer that he could solve this mystery before his fake brother decided to try that out on him.

            Time was growing short; Don would have to report for practice soon and he wanted to take a quick sponge bath before donning his gear and reporting to the dojo.

            Skipping over the smaller drawers, Don next went directly to the large one on the bottom right.  In his rush, he almost made the mistake of opening it without checking first but saw just in time that draped across one corner was another piece of thread.

            Heart thumping, Don eased the drawer open.  Inside was a dark colored knapsack.

            His hands were shaking slightly as Don reached inside and removed the knapsack.  A sound from the hall froze him, but when he realized it was Raph’s door, Don let out the breath he hadn’t even known he was holding.

            The sack was battered, ragged, and had what looked like scorch marks on it.  There were holes in it and one of them appeared to have been made by a bullet.

            Don unzipped the knapsack and pulled it open.  Inside he found clothes and when he removed one of the garments, it proved to be a turtle sized hooded sweatshirt in the color black, Leo’s preference for the times when he was forced to wear human garb.

            This wasn’t his Leo’s, Don knew everything that his brother owned and had never seen the knapsack or the clothes, and certainly never the sex toys.  His Leo would have died of mortification.

            Under the clothing, Don found non-perishable food items; mostly light weight things but some canned goods as well.  There were also some utensils and collapsible cups, gear primarily used by campers.  A small metal box at the very bottom contained medical supplies, all showing a great deal of use.  The entire thing screamed of a Turtle who was constantly on the run; one with no set place to call home.

            Carefully replacing things just as he’d found them, Don set the knapsack back into the drawer and the thread exactly where it had been before.  He made sure to also replace the thread that had been on the first drawer, stepping back a pace and comparing how the desk looked now to how it had been when he first approached it.  Confident that the two mental pictures were an exact match, Don grabbed his gear and high tailed it to the bathroom.

            Once inside, Don washed his lower body off as best he could.  He was sticky in some places and in others a dry, crusty residue clung to his body, a souvenir from Leo.  Urinating hurt; his penis was bruised from the manhandling by his fake brother, and Don’s ass felt as if someone had shoved burning brands inside of him.  It would take a while before that feeling faded and Don hoped that Leo would allow him a reprieve of at least a couple of days.

            During their last encounter, Leo had treated Don with both affection and regard for his feelings.  Leo was showing him the type of trust reserved for someone who is close, someone with whom a personal link has been established.  Their night together and Don’s pretense may have made Leo believe he had turned Donatello, forged him as Leo did with his swords, into something that Leo could own and rely upon.

            It was a fine line to walk but Don meant to stay on it.  He had to make sure that while Leo believed Don to care for him, that Leo also understood that Don was willing to mutiny if Mike and Raph were threatened.  The mercurial nature of this Leo’s personality meant that continuing to step between him and the younger two Turtles would earn Don the type of punishments he’d already been subjected to.

            He had to come to terms with that prospect and accept it.  No matter how many endearing words Leo might whisper to him, no matter that later Leo might treat him to a session of gentle love-making, the initial contact after an outward act of defiance was going to be painful.

            The other difficulty that Don was going to face was how Raph and Mike would see him.  Behaving as though Leo’s advances were not unwanted, playing up to him, would make his younger brothers see him differently.  It might even make them start to think he was no longer one of them.

            Given the fragile nature of their psyches at the moment, having them think that Don would no longer be there to offer protection might easily send one of them, particularly Raph, into a chasm of despondency that might lead to an action catastrophically disastrous.

            If Don managed to pull them aside into a private discussion in order to tell them of his plan, it would set their minds at ease.  The downside to doing so was that they might not behave in a manner appropriate to Don’s changing status with Leo.  If either of them reacted incorrectly to a situation, Leo would notice.  Don had no illusions as to this Leo’s ability to put two and two together and understand that Don was playing him.

            The desk had held some answers to Don’s questions, but had opened up new mysteries.  Finding a way to get into Master Splinter’s bedroom was essential, and only by holding on to Leo’s confidence could Don have a shot at that.

            He had to make Leo continue to believe that Don belonged to him.  If doing so meant that Raph and Mike would grow suspicious of him, Don had to take that chance.  Having them hate him for a time was better than the risk of falling off that tight rope he was walking.

            The mental clock in Don’s head told him to hurry.  He didn’t have time to clean himself properly but he would rather be messy than late.  Pulling his gear on, Don exited the bathroom, swinging his bo staff into place as he bypassed the stairs and leaped to the floor below.

            Voices from the dojo told Don that all three of his brothers were already there.  Taking several deep breaths, Don braced himself and headed in to practice.

TBC………………………..


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 4,937  
> Rating: NC-17 Contains TCest and non-consensual adult situations  
> Pairing: Leo/Don  
> Summary: The power of leadership goes to Leonardo's head and he acts it out on the one brother who usually obeys him without question.

            Raph and Mikey had already begun their stretching exercises when Don entered the dojo and for a brief panic filled moment, Don thought he was late.

            “Your brothers decided to get an early start,” Leo told him with a small smile.

            His expression contained a touch of smug satisfaction and Don wasn’t sure if it was over how well trained their siblings had become, or because of the night Don had spent with him. It was probably a little of both.

            Don quickly moved into place next to Mikey, feeling Leo’s eyes following him. Trying to behave as though he wasn’t hurting was going to be difficult enough without Leo staring at him. A glance out of the corners of his eyes showed Don that Raph and Mikey were also looking in his direction, giving Don the feeling of being inside a fishbowl.

            “Stretch and warm up, Donatello,” Leo said unnecessarily. “I want to watch each of you go through your weapons katas this morning.”

            With a curt nod, Don reached skyward to begin limbering his shoulder muscles. He was dreading the next couple of hours fiercely; moving anything more than his arms was going to be painful.

            Taking a deep breath and releasing it, Don bent over slowly. Halfway down an excruciatingly sharp pain shot into his ass and Don bit his lip so that he wouldn’t cry out. Some muffled sound must have escaped him though because Mikey looked over.

            “Are you okay?” Mikey whispered. He was bent double, his face nearly touching his legs as he held onto his ankles. He was the only one of them who could achieve such a flexible position; something about the way his shell had formed was different from his brothers.

            Don managed to get his hands on the mat, focusing on stretching his calves and thighs while trying to ignore the agony from his rear.

            “I’m okay, Mikey,” Don managed to whisper back, though pushing the words out was a massive effort.

            “We tried to make him let us see you last night,” Mikey murmured hoarsely, his voice catching.

            “Don’t draw attention to yourselves,” Don told him, shifting his hands to the right.

            “I was scared of what he’d do to you,” Mikey whispered. “All because you stood up for . . . .”

            “Michelangelo,” Leo’s voice cut sharply into their conversation. “I would advise you to concentrate today.”

            A tiny growl rolled up from Raph’s chest and Don straightened up a little too fast in an effort to divert Leo’s attention. The spasm that tore through his lower extremities forced a grunt out of him and Leo missed the sound that Raph had made as he turned to observe Don.

            “Is there a problem, Donny?” Leo asked, eyeing the purple banded Turtle thoughtfully.

            Leo’s tone was mild but Don wasn’t going to let that deceive him. “No, Leo.”

            “Good.” Leo stared at him for another moment before his eyes turned to rest on Raph. In another second, Leo was looking at Don again. “Carry on.”

            For the remainder of practice Don did his level best to hold Leo’s focus. If it appeared that Leo was growing agitated with either of his younger brothers, Don would jump in with a question, or purposely falter in his routine.

            Don expected that Leo would start to get angry with him, but instead, his pseudo-brother showed him enormous patience. Leo answered every question carefully and at one point wrapped his body around Don’s shell so that he could hold his arms while walking Don through a kata.

            For Don’s part, he pretended to melt under the attention, forcing himself to fawn over Leo. It had taken about three-quarters of an hour into their practice for Don to decide the role he would play and he was determined to perform the part flawlessly.

            He wanted Leo to think that he was both jealous and possessive. From Leo’s response, the gag seemed to be working.

            Whenever Leo would ask if he had answered Don’s question, the genius would simper and behave in as submissive a manner as possible. Leo soon began making opportunities to work exclusively with Don, leaving Raph and Mikey completely alone.

            Don knew his brothers were confused by his behavior; he could read it in their eyes. When Leo’s hands lingered on his body, Don made it a point to lean into the touch as though thoroughly enjoying it. The looks on the faces of the youngest two grew grimmer with each passing minute.

           This was exactly what Don didn’t want to see; his actions alienating Raph and Mikey. There was nothing he could do except hope that they would be so disgusted that they would avoid both he and Leo whenever possible. It would leave Don very much alone, but it would also keep his brothers out of danger.

            Mikey was puzzled and worried at Don’s actions after what the youngest probably presumed to be a night of torture at Leo’s hands. While he tried to figure it out, Mikey would keep things to himself. The thing Don had reasoned without however was Raph’s mercurial temper.

            For Raph, not understanding this change in Don seemed to be having the effect of waving a red flag in front of a bull. It had to be enormously confusing for Raph to have seen Don’s defiance the previous day, and then witness what appeared to be a complete turn-around.

            The low growls, heated glares, and jerky movements that Raph was displaying were all indicators of quickly growing anger. Whether he lashed out at Leo or at Don, the results would be the same and Don knew he had to intervene. He wasn’t ready for Leo and Raph to have a full blown head-on collision.

            Everything would be so much easier if Don could just walk up to Raph and say, _“I have a plan, please stop blowing it for me”_ , but of course he couldn’t. Raph would insist on knowing everything and besides the worry that Raph would give it all away, there was the very real possibility that Raph would try to kill the pseudo-Leo.

            Don was afraid that this Leo was making the mistake of underestimating Raphael. So far everything had gone Leo’s way; he had swooped in on the family and bludgeoned them into submission. The way he had operated had stunned and surprised Raph, who had held back because he thought that this Leo was his brother.

            Pseudo-Leo was now under the impression that Raph was simply ‘muscle’ as he had described him. He had no idea what Raph’s real strengths were; Leo didn’t know that Raph was the embodiment of the berserker spirit.

            They had experienced this Leo’s depravity and Don had a feeling that they still didn’t know what lengths he would go to in order to achieve his desires. That he was as well trained and skillful as the real Leo was evident. A show down between Leo and Raph would result in one or both dying, that much Don was sure of.

            If Raph did manage to get the upper hand and kill the false Leo then another problem would open for them; if pseudo-Leo was dead would they be able to get the real Leo back?

            All of this passed through Don’s mind as he tried to put the full width of the dojo between himself and Raph. Holding Leo’s attention was the best way Don knew to keep Raph at a safe distance.

            To Don’s surprise, Leo called for the end of practice much sooner than normal. Don attributed that to Leo’s rare good humor and the genius was not about to question his luck, no matter how it had come about.

            “I’m going to meditate,” Leo announced before they could vacate the dojo. “Please do not disturb me.”

            Mikey bolted through the door immediately and Leo exited next. As Don walked through the door, he glanced back at Raph and swallowed.

            Raphael was barely containing his rage; his color high and teeth bared, the red banded ninja looked like he was ready to bite someone’s head off.

            Scooting out of the dojo quickly, Don hoped that Raph would lash out at his punching bag in order to extinguish the fire that had started to burn. His heart plummeted when he saw Raph come dashing out of the dojo, his expression filled with purpose.

            “I’m going out for a run,” Raph announced belligerently, a spark from the old Raph springing to flame.

            “You will not.” Leo’s voice was cool and smooth. “We do not go topside when it’s light.”

            “I ain’t going topside, Leo,” Raph snapped. “Don’t ya’ think I got enough sense ta know that by now? I’m gonna run the sewers.”

            “And I would rather you did not,” Leo said, his voice frightening in its calm deliberateness. “Just because I was feeling magnanimous enough to allow an early end to practice doesn’t mean I’m suddenly going to relax all of the rules.”

            Raph had worked himself past the point of seeing or hearing the warning signs of danger. “We ain’t prisoners,” Raph growled. “Ya’ don’t want me ta meet up with Casey, ya’ don’t want me ta ride my bike, ya’ want us all ta stay down here and turn into clams. It’s driving me ape shit.”

            Don saw Leo’s eyes start to gleam just before a corner of his mouth twitched. It came to the genius then that this Leo enjoyed a certain amount of rebellion as an opportunity to exact his own brand of discipline.

            Before Leo could respond, Don hastily forced his way in between the other two. “Leo, can you please let Raph go for a run? The lair isn’t a very spacious place to be cooped up in for so many weeks and none of us have had a chance to really stretch our legs. Even the closest of families sometimes get claustrophobic and we all need a little space now and then.”

            “Even you?” Leo asked as he stared at Don, a small glitter in his eyes reminding Don that he was walking a very narrow path.

            “I’m not like Raph,” Don answered truthfully. “I can find ways to occupy my time just in trying to maintain things inside the lair. We all have different personalities, Leo. I’m very content remaining right here, but Raph needs to run, he needs to feel the air rushing past his face while he pushes his muscles as hard as he can.”

            “I can talk for myself, brainiac,” Raph snarled.

            Don ignored him, keeping his focus entirely on Leo. “You don’t need _him_ to be here all of the time,” Don added in what was nearly a whisper.

            Leo’s eyes narrowed slightly. “All right,” he said, looking past Don at Raph. “Do you have your shell cell?”

            “Yeah,” Raph said.

            “Donatello will keep tabs on you through the tracking device,” Leo said before his eyes drifted back to Don. “It is your responsibility to call Raph’s phone at random intervals until he returns. We wouldn’t want to be unaware that he had encountered some danger just because he’d somehow lost his shell cell, now would we?”

            The insinuation was obvious to both the younger Turtles; if Raph decided to use this as an opportunity to break away from Leo he wasn’t going to be allowed much of a head start.

            Don felt Raph move towards Leo and shifted so that his carapace became a barricade.

            “I’ll make sure he stays safe,” Don promised. “Raph would never do anything that might jeopardize his family.”

            The words were delivered to Leo, but they were directed towards Raph. Don heard his brother take a long, deep breath as Don’s sentence sank in. The hot head might hate Leo and despise Don at the moment, but there was still one brother in the lair that would be at Leo’s mercy if Raph didn’t return.

            Raph turned away from them abruptly, deliberately hitting Don’s carapace with a muscular arm as he did so. “Later,” he called as he ran from the lair.

            Looking over at his brother, Don watched Raph leave, noting the set of his shoulders and the clenched fists. Running several miles might not be enough to burn off that kind of anger.

            When Don glanced back around, he saw that Leo was no longer standing in front of him. His brother was just reaching for Master Splinter’s door.

            Jumping forward quickly, Don caught up to Leo just as his brother stepped into the room. When Leo turned to pull the door shut, Don planted himself in the opening.

            “Do you need help with anything?” Don asked brightly.

            “No.” Leo gave him a strange look. “I told you I wanted to meditate. I prefer to do that in Master Splinter’s room.”

            “So that you can feel closer to him? Could I join you? I miss him too and maybe being in here will help me not to worry about him as much,” Don said.

            “Not this time, Donny,” Leo said as he continued to block the entrance. He tilted his head slightly as he studied his younger brother. “Raphael was defying my specific orders and deserved discipline, as you well know. You interfered, even though I thought you were in this with me.”

            “I am,” Don hastened to say, “but you know me, Leo. I’m peaceful at heart.”

            “So there is a point that you won’t go beyond,” Leo observed.

            “Yes,” Don said. “We all have that point; this is mine.”

            Leo lifted his eye ridges. “Is that because you feel possessive of me, or because you’re protecting your brothers?”

            Don met Leo’s eyes. “Perhaps a little of both,” he answered as truthfully as he could, knowing that his oldest brother was gauging his reactions. “Maybe now that we’ve reached this juncture, I feel like you should focus on me. Maybe I believe that if Mikey and Raph don’t want that particular type of discipline, you should try something else.”

            “Are you telling me how to do my job?” Leo asked, his tone mild.

            Shaking his head, Don said, “That isn’t my place. My place is to offer my intellect as a resource for you in order to aid you in making decisions. My place is to be a sounding board that you can use to bounce ideas off of and as such, I offer whatever guidance I can. Ultimately, you make the final determinations.”

            “Yes I do,” Leo said and then leaned towards his brother to add in a lower tone, “Don’t forget that.”

            He started pulling the shoji closed and Don stepped back out of the way. Don watched Leo’s shadow move away from him before turning from Master Splinter’s room and heading towards his lab.

            Don hadn’t managed to get into his Father’s room, but he had been able to sweep the room with his eyes in the split second before Leo turned around. Don’s memory was superb and he didn’t see a single thing out of place other than a small wooden chest that Master Splinter usually kept pushed into the far corner of the room. The chest had been moved a couple of feet out of position and Don didn’t think that his Father would have left it that way.

           That chest might mean absolutely nothing or it might hold the answer to at least one question. Don would never know if he didn’t figure out how to get inside his Father’s room.

            Feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on, Don sank very slowly into his favorite chair, wincing as his bottom touched down. Standing again, he crossed over to the daybed and picked up the small comforter that was draped over it, folding the padded cloth as he returned to the chair.

            Placing it on his chair, Don once again gingerly sat down. The extra cushioning made sitting bearable and Don leaned his head back, closing his eyes as he tried to relax for just a bit.

            After a few minutes, Don felt a delicious numbness begin to crawl over his arms and legs. He was tired; the constant battle to keep up his pretenses was wearing on him, as was the lack of actual sleep.

            With a jerk, Don caught himself before he dozed off. Until Raph had safely returned to the lair, Don couldn’t afford to sleep.

            Looking over at his clock, Don saw that about twenty minutes had passed and decided to call Raph, even though he was dreading doing so. If his brother was still just as livid as when he left, Don was probably going to catch hell. His only solace was that letting Raph vent might help calm his brother.

            Picking up his shell cell, he punched in the code for Raph’s phone and waited.

            _“What?”_ Raph snapped as he answered.

            “I’m sorry bro’, you know I have to call,” Don said.

            _“Yeah,”_ Raph said darkly. _“Brown noser.”_

            “I can’t be that, I haven’t got a nose,” Don said in a lame attempt at humor.

            As he expected, Raph wasn’t amused. _“This how it’s gonna be now, Don?”_ Raph asked. His tone was contentious but beneath that Don could hear real pain.

            “What were you going to do, fight him?” Don asked. “You were the one who warned me about what he’s capable of, or have you forgotten?”

            _“Forgotten?”_ Raph’s voice cracked slightly. _“How the fuck can ya’ ask me that? I saw how ya’ were walking this morning; ya’ volunteer for all of that? ‘Cause I sure as hell didn’t and I been getting it for a lot longer than ya’ have.”_

            “That ends now,” Don told him. “There is a solution to this and I promise I’ll find it.”

            There was a pause on the other end of the line and then Raph said, _“Donatello, what are ya’ doing?”_

            Don bit his lip in consternation; he should have known that Raph was sharp enough to read something deeper into what Don had said. He just didn’t want Raph to run.

            “This isn’t the time for you to test him,” Don said. “Remember when you asked me if he’d come after you and I said he would? That hasn’t changed; these precautions of tracking you and making me call should tell you he won’t let you go.”

            _“Ya’ asked me to stick with ya then too,”_ Raph said. _“But ya’ didn’t say ya’ was gonna solve things by turning into his willing bitch either. Do ya’ think I want ta live having ta watch that every day? It makes me sick ta my stomach.”_

            “Raph, you’ve trusted me with your life before; all I’m asking is that you trust me on this,” Don said. “I know what I’m doing.”

            _“I sure as hell hope ya’ do,”_ Raph said. _“That trust thing means ya’ ain’t willing ta share what’s going on in that big brain of yours, doesn’t it?”_

            “It’s probably better that I don’t try,” Don said. “Please don’t insist.”

            _“Goddammit Donatello, ya’ sure as fuck want a lot from me,”_ Raph said, his voice finally beginning to even out despite the strong words. _“I gotta trust ya’, I gotta keep my questions ta myself, and I gotta promise not ta completely lose it with Leo. If it turns out ya’ don’t know what you’re doing, do me a favor and don’t tell me that either. Just come up with a new plan and do it fast.”_

            “You’ll come home?” Don asked.

            _“Yeah, yeah, I’ll come home,”_ Raph promised. _“I’ll do it when I’m damn well ready though, so ya’ don’t need ta keep calling my ass.”_

            “This is the first and last call,” Don said, trying to put a smile into his voice.

            _“Right. I sure hope you’re as smart as the rest of us think ya’ are,”_ Raph said before hanging up.

            “So do I,” Don whispered to himself as he set the shell cell aside.

            Rubbing his temples, Don rolled his chair forward enough to open a desk drawer and grab a bottle of aspirin. Dry swallowing a couple of them, Don once more leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes and trying to relax his facial muscles.

            He desperately wanted a nice, long nap, but Don wasn’t going to risk falling asleep as long as Raph was out of the lair. Raph had promised to return and Don knew that he would. However if Leo finished meditating before Raph got back and caught Don sleeping rather than monitoring his younger brother, there was no telling what would happen.

            Amend that, there was a pretty good chance that Don did know what would happen, and it wouldn’t be pleasant.

            His stomach muscles clenched and reminded Don that he hadn’t eaten since dinner the day before last. Being sick to his stomach was all he needed on top of a headache and a sore ass. Ingesting a couple of aspirins wasn’t going to help an empty stomach either.

            Forcing himself to get up, Don groaned long and loud, luxuriating in the ability to fully vent his feelings. He would find something to eat now; it would help him stay awake and since breakfast was over and lunch a couple of hours away, Don could have the kitchen to himself.

            That wasn’t the case though. As Don approached the kitchen, he heard sounds of movement and nearly stopped. He was not in the mood for Leo right now but couldn’t imagine the oldest had finished meditating so soon. The only other occupant of the lair was Mikey and Don knew he couldn’t keep avoiding him.

            Strolling into the kitchen in as light hearted a manner as he could manage, Don saw Mikey was just sitting down at the table, a large steaming bowl in front of him.

            Mikey looked up and his expression didn’t change. “I made a big pot of chicken soup, dude. Help yourself.”

            “Thanks,” Don replied, grabbing a bowl from the cupboard and picking a spoon out of the utensil drawer.

            He filled his bowl gratefully; the soup had large chunks of chicken and the wide noodles he preferred. This was one of Mikey’s comfort foods and the youngest was a master at preparing it.

            Don sat down across from Mikey and glanced at his brother over a spoonful of soup. Mikey appeared to be deep in thought and Don decided to remain quiet to give the youngest an opening to speak if he wanted to.

            A quarter of his bowl was empty when he heard Mikey sigh. Looking up, Don saw that Mikey was staring at him.

            “I told you that he wanted you the most, didn’t I?” Mikey asked.

            “Yes you did,” Don acknowledged.

            “Is that what made you decide on this strategy?” Mikey’s expression told Don that lying about it would be pointless.

            “It helped,” Don said. “Does it bother you?”

            “’Course it does,” Mikey said shortly. “I told you that to warn you, not to give you a tactic to use.”

            Mikey’s insights were always dangerous and Don realized that he knew deep down he wouldn’t completely fool the youngest.

            “But I’m a ninja, Mikey,” Don reminded him. “I promised to protect you but you can’t limit my choice of weapon.”

            “I don’t think I want you to have to use that particular weapon,” Mikey’s eyes were sad as he contemplated his older brother.

            “Mikey,” Don said as he shifted on his seat, “can you trust me when I tell you that I’m looking upon this experience as an experiment and nothing more? I can’t be damaged by it if I can find a purpose for everything that’s happening to me.”

            Blue eyes held brown ones as Mikey tried to read some truth in what Don was telling him. “That isn’t your forever plan I hope?” Mikey asked.

            Don ate a few bites of his now cooled soup, trying to decide what to tell Mikey. His original thoughts still held true; he didn’t want his brothers to accidently give anything away to Leo.

            With a shrug, Don said, “It’s not so bad; if I give him what he needs, he can be gentle.”

            “You’re so full of it,” Mikey said. “Did I grow up with you or what? I know every expression on your face and I can tell when you’re under strain. I’ll bet anything you have a headache right now.”

            “You can’t treat me any differently,” Don told him succinctly, not acknowledging the truth of Mikey’s observation.

            “Oh,” Mikey said. Lifting his bowl, he drained the soup from it and set it on the table before looking across at Don again. “You’re afraid I won’t act right, huh? Raph too I suppose. Come to think of it, you’re probably right.”

            Don blinked as he watched Mikey leap to correct conclusions at lightning speed. Sometimes he envied Mikey that ability; at times Don wondered which of them was truly the genius in the family.

            “Please don’t be angry . . . .” Don began.

            “I’m not,” Mikey said. “This is just like when you do that whole brain thing; you always keep stuff to yourself until you’ve figured it all out. Okay, so let me tell you something while I have the chance. After you got dragged off by Leo last night, I talked to Raph and we sat in here to write down everything we could remember about the day Master Splinter left.

            “We didn’t really have time to compare notes, we just wrote everything out and then I hid the notes in your lab. I wasn’t sure if Leo would be awake and watching, so I stayed under the camera and tucked the notes into that book on kinetic energy. I knew he’d never look in there.”

            The look of wonder on Don’s face wasn’t feigned; Mikey never ceased to amaze him.

            “Thank you,” Don said. “I’ll read them as soon as I can.”

            “Don’t thank me too soon, dude,” Mikey said. “I don’t think any of what I remember is very useful, but maybe if you put mine and Raph’s notes together with what you remember, something will make sense.”

            “I hope so,” Don said as he watched Mikey stand up.

            The youngest washed his bowl and spoon carefully before drying and putting them away. Gone was the kitchen clutter of the past; that was another thing about this Leo, he had an extreme clean fetish. It extended beyond his room, Leo expected the lair to be as spotless as they could manage.

            Judging from the way that hidden knapsack looked, pseudo-Leo probably didn’t live this way normally. It could certainly explain his need for cleanliness in this more secure environment.

            “I’m gonna book,” Mikey said. “Hanging out in my room all of the time isn’t as much fun as I always thought it would be, but at least when I’m there he isn’t reminded that I live here.”

            Don smiled his encouragement. “We’ll get through this, Mikey. Turtle luck may be bad sometimes, but it has a way of turning around when we need for it to.”

            “That’s not luck,” Mikey said, squeezing Don’s shoulder as he walked past. “That’s us working together.”

            Don stared into his bowl for a few minutes after Mikey left and then finished his meal. While he washed his things and put them away, he marveled at how perfect his brothers were. It might not have been the best idea to keep so much of what he knew and planned to himself, but Don really needed to protect them. He should have known they wouldn’t shun him for his actions, they seemed to know him a lot better than Don knew them.

            For the first time in weeks Don felt something akin to elation. He had a working plan that would keep Mikey and Raph out of danger and he had the notes from them on what had happened on the day Master Splinter left.

            Raph had sounded hopeful enough to contain his temper and Mikey was growing bolder, more like his old self. He’d even said Leo’s name once during their conversation.

            They were both content at the moment to take Don at his word and let the genius play a lone hand. But Don knew he wasn’t really alone; his brothers would be there to help him if he needed them.

            That was a good thing too, because this Leo was a dangerous antagonist. They needed to get rid of him and get their own Leo back. Don was sure that wherever he was, his real brother was trying to return to them and that he knew his three siblings were trying just as hard to find him.

            Leaving the kitchen, he glanced towards Master Splinter’s room and saw the glow of candles shining through the door. It seemed ironic to him that he felt a certain comfort when his Leo meditated and that this Leo doing so also comforted him. Just for entirely different reasons.

            Raph hadn’t returned yet and Don decided to take a long, hot shower. He often got some very good ideas while showering and hoped this time would be no different. Staging things to give his younger siblings a reprieve from Leo’s discipline was only one part of what needed to be done.

            Don still had to figure out who this Leo was, where he’d come from, and how to send him back. That was going to be a big challenge, especially as Don would be doing his damndest to stay alive in the meantime.

TBC………………….


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 5,826  
> Rating: NC-17 Contains TCest and non-consensual adult situations  
> Pairing: Leo/Don  
> Summary: The power of leadership goes to Leonardo's head and he acts it out on the one brother who usually obeys him without question.

            Don eventually got to take the nap he so desperately needed.

            After refreshing both mind and body with a shower, Don returned to his lab and checked the signal on Raph’s tracking device. His brother was still moving through the sewers, but he hadn’t actually gone very far from the lair. Don sighed in relief; deep down he knew Raph would keep his word, but there was always that little voice in the back of Don’s mind asking ‘what if?’. The last thing Don needed to deal with at the moment was another problem.

            A short time later Leonardo exited Master Splinter’s room, taking great care to close the door securely. Even though the door had no lock on it, Don was sure that Leo had it rigged so that he’d know if someone went inside.

            Leo looked up to see Don watching him and then glanced at the shell cell in Don’s hand. With a nod of satisfaction, Leo took the stairs two at a time, going directly to the bathroom. Don was glad that Leo wasn’t in the mood for another personal ‘cleaning’ session.

            Since he wanted to watch for Raph’s return and also keep an eye on Leo, Don spent an hour installing a new light switch in the dojo. The job removed an item off his to-do list and was a task he could do while standing. The lidocaine ointment he had used to coat his anal passage with after the shower had helped with the pain, but sitting down still hurt.

            Raph came home just after Leo had gone into the kitchen to have his lunch. The red banded Turtle saw Don first and then noticed Leo standing in the kitchen doorway, a sandwich in one hand. Leo took a slow bite and watched Raph, his face a completely emotionless mask.

            For two minutes the tableau held and it felt like the longest two minutes in Don’s life. The methodical biting and chewing was almost like a challenge, issued by Leo and directed towards Raph. Don saw the entirety of it in slow motion and wondered if throwing his screwdriver at Raph would stop his brother from acting rashly.

            In the end, Don didn’t have to do anything. Raph visibly took a solid hold of himself, dashing upstairs and into his room, no doubt to work any residual frustrations out on his free weights.

            Don saw a brief smile flit across Leo’s mouth before the leader returned to the kitchen. Quickly finishing his task, Don gathered his tools and took them back to the lab. That last episode between Leo and Raph had left the genius feeling completely drained and he knew it was time to rest.

            Slowly crawling onto the daybed, Don carefully lay on his side to ease the pressure on his rear end. His eyes found the camera that Leo had made him install and then he remembered what Mikey had said about hiding the notes he and Raph had written out.

            For a moment Don toyed with the idea of getting up and having a look at those notes. He needed to see them; they might give him another clue in the mystery of what had happened to his Leo and who this imposter was.

            Two things stopped him; one was the very real possibility that Leo might come in unannounced, and the second was that Don was too hurt and too exhausted to move. As his eyes slid shut, Don told himself to check those notes at his very first opportunity.

            An annoying sound interrupted Don’s dream of a happier time in his life; when they were small and Master Splinter told them stories at bedtime. His Father’s stories were more like fables; told with the object of teaching his children a lesson while also lulling them to sleep.

            This story, like many that Master Splinter told, centered on Master Yoshi. It was a tale about a room filled with mirrors and how Master Yoshi came to find his true self.

            The noise that had pulled Don from his dream was the alarm clock warning him that dinner time was fast approaching. With a groan, Don rolled off the bed and to his feet, carefully avoiding having his rump touch the mattress.

            As he crossed the lab to silence the alarm, Don’s mind went back to his dream. He’d been awakened before the story was finished but that didn’t matter; Don had heard it a thousand times and knew the ending well. It was something else about the dream that plagued him, something that made him believe that the dream held a deeper message than the original point of that fable.

            Somewhere in that dream lay a hint towards the solution to their current family dilemma. Don’s subconscious mind had seen or heard something and in an attempt to transmit that message, had given Don that particular dream.

            But dreams were very esoteric things; only properly interpreted by those who dreamt them. Don believed that dreams were innately personal and he held a Zen philosophy regarding them. To his mind, everything inside a dream represented some part of him; therefore, if he dreamt about a chair, the chair was in actuality Donatello, as was anything else that appeared inside the dream.

            To understand the message in his dream, Don had to take all of the things that were manifested in that dream and understand why he had become those things. Sometimes interpreting a dream took only moments, but Don knew this wouldn’t be one of the easy ones. The elusive message would have to remain just that for the time being; Don needed to join his family at the dinner table if he didn’t want to encourage some more of Leo’s discipline.

            Don reached the dining area just as Mikey was setting the table and immediately jumped in to help. Leo wasn’t far away; he was standing near the couch, holding the remote as he flipped through channels on the television. He stopped only on news stations, listening with intent interest to reported events and changing channels again only when the commercials came on.

            Raph joined them at the last possible second, his way of holding onto a need to be seen as rebellious without actually sliding into insubordination. Leo merely nodded at his hot headed brother, not even providing Raph with the satisfaction of an admonishing look.

            Dinner was not the enjoyable affair that it used to be. Before Master Splinter’s departure, when the family sat down to a meal together, there was much fun loving banter and good natured teasing. Sometimes, more food ended up on them than in them.

            The silence of this meal was broken only when someone asked to have something passed to them. Don tried to start a conversation several times, choosing totally innocuous subjects, but Mikey made only the most desultory attempts to join in and Raph remained silently sullen.

            Leo passed the conversational ball to some extent, but tonight he seemed distracted. It was apparent to Don that his pseudo-brother had something on his mind and that it had nothing to do with his siblings.

            It was near the end of the meal when Leo set his fork down with a loud click and drew everyone’s attention.

            “I have made the decision to brick up the entrance to Master Splinter’s room,” Leo announced firmly.

            Don could feel the color draining from him. “Wh . . . what?”

            “It is perfectly obvious to me that Father has no intention of returning,” Leo continued. “I cannot reach him even during meditation which to my mind indicates his decision to cut himself off from us. I toyed with the idea of moving into his room myself, but his essence is too much a part of that room and I would not be comfortable. To honor him, I think the best thing we can do is seal up his room.”

            “B . . . but he said he’d come back,” Mikey stammered.

            “Perhaps he said as much to you,” Leo said. “That is exactly what he would do to soften the blow for you, little brother. With me he was much more forthright. I know all of you believe I have been leading this clan with an iron fist, but I must tell you that Splinter’s final instruction to me was that I had to be tougher with all of you. As your Father he could not take the required measures to ensure your complete obedience and he was fearful that your lack of discipline would someday get you all killed.”

            “Master Splinter never said that!” Raph erupted, slamming a fist onto the table.

            Leo’s eyes darted over to him and Don could almost see the icicles flash from them to pierce Raphael.

            “He said that and more,” Leo said distinctly. “His primary worry was about you, Raph. Splinter said you will never reach your full potential unless you found some measure of control and that he wasn’t sure you could manage it. That is going to be my honorarium to him for the work he put into teaching me everything I know. I am going to instill discipline in this family and most especially in you, dear brother.”

            The table had started to vibrate and Don realized that was caused by Raph’s shaking, his entire body quivering with rage and shame. Leo was baiting him, that much was painfully obvious, and with unerring accuracy Leo had chosen a topic that was the most hurtful to his hot headed brother.

            Mikey had curled into himself, his body a metaphoric ball as he tried to hide from Leo’s words. Only Don knew for sure that what Leo was saying couldn’t be the truth; from the timeline that Don had been able to recreate, the real Leo had been present during Master Splinter’s departure, not this pseudo-Leo.

            “We’ll have to raid a job site or break into a lumber yard to get the bricks and concrete needed to do the job,” Don said loudly.

            His words pulled Leo’s eyes off of Raph and he quickly continued, “We don’t have a stockpile of either of those things. They aren’t something we’ve ever needed.”

            “Always practical, eh Donatello?” Leo asked. “Aren’t you going to express some sentiment regarding Splinter’s room?”

            Don shrugged, noting that pseudo-Leo had stopped bothering to address their Father as ‘Master’. “If he doesn’t return, blocking his room off is probably the best way to honor his memory without turning the place into a morbid shrine. If Master Splinter does come back, a crowbar and some sweat will remove the bricks. Nothing is to be gained from overt sentimentality.”

            His gentle, unemotional words had managed to pull both Mikey and Raph’s attention off of Leo and both were looking at Don. The tension in the air started to fade; Leo appeared somewhat appeased to have the genius’ somewhat tacit agreement to his plan.

            “It looks as though a trip topside is warranted,” Leo said.

            “I’m afraid we can’t do it tonight,” Don said quickly. “We’ll need the van in order to haul that kind of a load and the back shocks need replacing. If we try to put anything heavy in it right now, we’ll lose the entire back end suspension.”

            It was a spur of the moment lie, but Don was sure this Leo wouldn’t know any more about that aspect of an automobile than his own Leo did.

            “Do you have the replacement parts?” Leo asked, his sharp eyes nearly pinning Don in his chair.

            “No, but we can raid the junk yards in search of them after I remove the old ones,” Don said. “I know what to look for, but you guys will need to have the old shocks in order to make a visual comparison. Unless you don’t want us to split up. If we don’t, it’ll take a lot longer to find what we need.”

            “How long will it take you to remove the old ones?” Leo asked.

            “A couple of hours,” Don told him. “Given the age and wear, it’s going to be a job.”

            “Then you should get to it as soon as you’ve finished your dinner,” Leo said. “Depending on how long it takes you, we’ll either look for replacements tonight, or wait until tomorrow night. There’s no rush; maybe Splinter will return in the meantime and render this entire idea as moot.”

            There was a slightly sarcastic undertone in his words that didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the brothers. Fortunately, Mikey had caught on to Don’s ploy and was eating again, apparently trying to ignore everyone around him. Raph’s eyes were on his plate, his glare gone and his pain hidden. Don’s words had helped to disburse his anger, letting Raph see how pointless it was to allow Leo to bait him.

            Leo frowned slightly at not being able to get another rise out of Raphael and then glanced at Don. From the corner of his eye Don saw his older brother turn in his direction, but kept his attention directed towards the food on his plate. Leo might suspect that Don was tempering his brother’s reactions, but as long as Don continued to be subtle about it, Leo couldn’t be completely sure.

            Don thought that Leo would be less tolerant of his interruptions if the oldest wasn’t so desperate for Don’s acceptance of him.

            And Leo was needful of Don’s compliance, of that Don was growing increasingly surer. It wasn’t necessarily love that Leo was seeking from the genius; Don wasn’t sure that this Leo was capable of that emotion.

            What this Leo seemed to require was someone that he could depend on and trust, someone who belonged to him in both mind and body. Don had what Leo needed and as long as Don kept up pretenses, this Leo would desperately hold onto the idea that Don was his.

            Dinner ended shortly after Leo’s announcement. Raph grabbed dishes from the table and strode into the kitchen, followed by Mikey. A minute later Don heard the sound of running water and then Mikey reappeared to gather the rest of the dinner things.

            When Don started to remove his plate, Leo stopped him. “Mikey and Raph have this under control; you should go work on the van.”

            Don simply nodded and took the elevator straight up to the garage. He had felt Leo’s eyes on him right up until the elevator doors had closed and knew his pseudo-brother wasn’t ready to trust him just yet.

            As the elevator lifted him, Don thought about the convoluted game he was playing with Leo. His interference in Leo’s latest confrontation with Raph had let the oldest know that Don would continue to mutiny against Leo’s control if the situation warranted such action. Don had to keep Leo’s focus off of Raph and Mikey and if that called for open defiance, then Don was prepared to go that far.

            Leo was completely cognizant of Don’s intent and was certainly baiting Raph in order to keep Don addled and unable to concentrate. It was Don’s mind that Leo most wanted, but it was Don’s mind that was Leo’s greatest adversary.

            The promise of insubordination from Don kept Leo from spending time with Raph or Mikey; Leo had to be on his toes because he didn’t know what Don was willing to do behind his back. The strange thing was that Leo seemed to be enjoying the power play with Don, but the genius had no illusions about that fact. Leo was allowing Don more leeway than the others because of Don’s unspoken promise to continue to satisfy his pseudo-brother.

            To maintain the lie that the van was out of service, the first thing that Donatello did was to jack up the back end and remove the tires. The physical activity felt good; keeping his body active and his hands busy as Don tried to understand Leo’s motives in bricking up Master Splinter’s room.

            The most obvious reason had nothing to do with honoring their Father’s memory and everything to do with permanently hiding something that was in that room. Wherever this Leo had come from, Don was now sure that the answer to sending him back and retrieving the real Leo lay inside Master Splinter’s room.

            Reasoning that out led to a supposition and Don found that he liked it because it seemed to fit with everything he knew about pseudo-Leo. Having spent some time in an alternate reality, Don knew such a thing was possible and in this case, probable.

            Don believed that there were an infinite number of universes existing parallel to one another, and the act of travelling into one of them was a mere matter of moving sideways in time. Something in pseudo-Leo’s universe had changed the course of his history and made his existence much harsher.

            Whatever had transpired had happened within the last few years, judging by the scars that covered pseudo-Leo’s body. Many of them were ones that Don recognized, so the events that led to their acquisition had to be identical to the ones within Don’s timeline. Some calamity had caused a divergence to occur in pseudo-Leo’s universe; an event that had left this Leo alone, bitter, and hellishly warped.

            The timeline that had produced this Leo was also apparently very dangerous, which caused Don an even greater worry. While pseudo-Leo occupied this universe, the real Leo was trapped in the deadly one. He was a master ninja and extremely nimble mentally and physically, but it only required one slip to end his life.

            Don couldn’t let this Leo brick up Master Splinter’s room. The way to exchange the two Leo’s was in that room; if Don hadn’t been sure of it before, he was now. Pseudo-Leo liked this universe and was determined to remain here, and the best way to ensure that was to block off any possibility of the real Leo finding his way back home.

            His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the elevator doors opening. Don hoped that it was Raphael coming up to help with the van, but the silence of the approach told him otherwise.

            Lying on his mechanic’s creeper to work on the van had been preferable to squatting or sitting on his painful rear, but it left Don feeling vulnerable as he awaited Leo’s appearance. He saw Leo’s feet first as his brother stopped near the van.

            “This is an impressive looking array of parts,” Leo said. “All of these things have to be removed in order to replace the shock absorbers?”

            “It’s easier to work on them if you get all this other stuff out of the way,” Don explained.

            “I see. I’ll have to take your word on that,” Leo said. “From the looks of things, I think your two hour estimate was too optimistic.”

            “I’d like to replace the brake pads while I have everything pulled apart,” Don told him. “It only makes sense to take care of all of the problems at once.”

            “I agree,” Leo said. “I hope that one of those problems isn’t my decision to brick up Splinter’s room.”

            Don stopped breathing for a moment but quickly got his reactions under control. Grunting as he turned the socket wrench, he said, “I told you my feelings on the subject. As far as I’m concerned, that’s entirely up to you.”

            He couldn’t see Leo’s face, but Don was pretty sure that answer had gone over favorably with his fake brother.

            “So tearing the van apart isn’t a tactic to prevent me from doing so?” Leo pressed.

            “Nope,” Don answered in his most disinterested manner. “Could you hand me the three-eighths socket please?”

            Leo squatted and reached into Don’s tool kit, grabbing the socket his brother had asked for and leaning forward to place it into Don’s outstretched hand. Don had a brief glimpse of Leo’s face before his brother sat back, his arms resting on his knees as he got comfortable.

            It was obvious Leo intended to keep him company and Don resigned himself to that fact. Whenever he looked in Leo’s direction though, he could see his brother’s lower plastron and tail, both of which brought flashes of memory that Don didn’t care for.

            Keeping his eyes fixed on the underside of the van, Don continued working, stripping the components of the rear differential so that it would be time consuming for anyone other than himself to put back together. He was determined to delay Leo’s proposed plan to shut off Master Splinter’s room from the rest of their home, hoping to buy enough time so that he could figure out how to get inside.

            “Donatello, if I asked you who you thought our greatest enemy was, what would you say?” Leo asked out of the blue.

            The question surprised Don, who asked, “Do you mean since we destroyed the Shredder?”

            There was a minute pause before Leo said, “Yes.”

            The pause clued Don in to the fact that Leo was fishing for information about the universe he now found himself in. Apparently the news that Shredder had been defeated was a revelation to pseudo-Leo.

            “Well, Raph might say that Karai is our biggest problem since she’s become so fanatical about destroying us,” Don said. “Doesn’t that bother you?”

            “Anyone who lists killing us as a priority is of concern to me,” Leo said. “Do you agree with Raphael’s assessment?”

            Don was listening for nuances in Leo’s voice and words. He heard one in the way Leo had answered that question that made him wonder if pseudo-Leo had ever had any dealings with Karai.

            “Her obsession is certainly problematic,” Don said cautiously. “Since she’s now directing the Foot clan her ninjas can limit our movements. It’s no worse than Hun and his Purple Dragons in my opinion. Both groups have limitations.”

            “Hun isn’t of concern to me,” Leo said. “He is a street thug and so are his people. If something isn’t profitable, they ignore it.”

            So there was a Hun in Leo’s universe, but it seemed that version wasn’t much more than a minor nuisance.

            “Unfortunately, hunting us _is_ profitable because Karai has a bounty on our heads,” Don said dryly. “I suspect that Bishop has also offered Hun inducements with regard to information as to our whereabouts.”

            “Oh yes, Bishop,” Leo said noncommittally. “What’s your opinion on Bishop?”

            Pseudo-Leo didn’t know Bishop; didn’t even know if Bishop was a man or woman. Don began to get the feeling that this Leo’s world was very similar to the one that Don had gotten dropped into by Drako and the Daimyo’s son.

            “I think he’s our greatest threat,” Don answered truthfully. “The man is a zealot and has the force of the government behind him, which means he has limitless power and influence. We’ve been very lucky in our past dealings with him but I wouldn’t purposely go up against him.”

            Leo was quiet for a few minutes and Don continued to tinker; looking as industrious as he possibly could.

            “Given a choice though, you, Raph, and Mikey wouldn’t remain down here in the safety of the lair, would you?” Leo asked.

            “You mean as in forever?” Don asked. “Well, no. That wouldn’t be feasible even if we were inclined that way. We’d still need supplies and we have friends on the outside. Besides, Master Splinter taught us to fight evil rather than to let it run rampant. If we hadn’t followed that philosophy, we’d never have rid the world of the Shredder.”

            “We were honor bound to do that,” Leo said, his voice shifting suddenly to a darker tone. “The Foot clan is our sworn enemy and should be completely destroyed, from the top down.”

            The way Leo spoke sent a shiver of dread into Don’s spine and he rolled out from under the van so that he could see his brother’s face.

            “Thwarting them and hunting them were distinctions that Master Splinter instituted,” Don said. “You know that he doesn’t believe in killing for the sake of killing.”

            Leo’s eyes had seemed to shift to a darker shade of amber and it was all Don could do to meet them. There was a frightening fanaticism in their depths that worried Don immeasurably. After a moment, the color changed back to something less deadly.

            Standing, Leo inhaled deeply and held his hand out. “Time to stop working for the night. Come with me; we need to get you cleaned up.”

            Don hesitated for just a moment, but the look on Leo’s face was one he was learning not to argue with. Taking Leo’s hand, Don allowed his brother to pull him up.

            As quickly as he could, Don put away the tools he’d been using as Leo stood to one side and watched him. When he was done, he followed Leo to the elevator.

            Stepping into the lair, Leo took Don’s hand once again and led him upstairs. With each step a feeling of apprehension built; now that Leo looked upon him as a willing lover he probably expected Don to acquiesce to any and all of Leo’s needs. Not only did Don not want to be Leo’s sex slave, but he was much too sore for intercourse.

            Don’s fear didn’t diminish when Leo took him into the bathroom. After shutting and locking the door, Leo turned on the tap in the bathtub and while it was filling he carefully stripped Don of his gear. With his eyes glued to Don’s, Leo next removed all of his things and then stepped into the tub, pulling Don into it with him.

            With slow precision, Leo began to scrub the grime from Don’s hands and arms, moving up to his shoulders and then over to his plastron. Don sat with his carapace against the back of the tub, unmoving as he allowed Leo to do as he wished. The warm water was soothing to Don’s aching back side and for the moment, Don allowed himself to relax.

            His eyes were half closed and his guard down when Leo’s hands slipped below the water. Very deliberately, Leo squeezed Don’s thighs, slipping his thumbs inwards and sliding them across the creases where skin met plastron.

            As Don’s eyes came up to meet Leo’s, the corners of his brother’s mouth curved into a lust filled smile.

            “Come here,” Leo ordered, his voice husky.

            “Leo, I’m . . . .” Don began.

            “Join me,” Leo said, his interruption barring all argument.

            Don swallowed and moved towards him. Leo straightened his legs and leaned forward to clasp Don’s upper arms, guiding him up until he was straddling Leo’s lap.

            One of Leo’s hands slid higher until it was cupping Don’s cheek. Knowing what was expected of him, Don bent down and pressed his lips against his brothers.

            Leo immediately opened his mouth and deepened the kiss. As he held Don’s face, the other hand came down on Don’s thigh and then crept back until Leo could grasp his younger brother’s tail.

            Don rocked forward in reaction, sending a small wave of water lapping against the sides of the tub. Leo’s kiss grew more passionate and he began to stroke and squeeze Don’s tail, periodically stopping to tickle the underside with his fingertips.

            The action caused a tingling sensation to crawl up into Don’s loins and he moaned as a familiar tightness pooled at the base of his plastron. He could feel himself begin to harden, although he desperately wanted to deny that he was becoming aroused.

            Holding firmly to Leo’s shoulders, Don was caught between wanting to push away from his pseudo-brother and to pull him closer. Don seriously hoped that Leo only wanted to excite him and wasn’t planning anything further; his ass hurt too much.

            Then he felt one of Leo’s fingers begin to circle his entrance; the touch very light but the purpose clear.

            Pulling away from their kiss, Don stammered, “L . . . Leo, please. I c . . . can’t, not yet. I’m s . . . so sore . . . .”

            “It’s okay, Donny,” Leo murmured in a low, reassuring tone. Pressing a kiss to Don’s chin, he said, “That’s why we’re doing this in the tub. The water will ease the way and keep you lubricated.”

            As he sought to calm Don, Leo’s finger inched its way past the protective outer muscle in Don’s ass, making the younger Turtle gasp. The sting of the intrusion felt to Don as though he’d been stuck with several needles.

            “Ahh! St . . . stop, please,” Don panted, feeling the swollen ring of muscle begin to throb. “I’ve never done this, I’m . . . I’m not used t . . . to it. I need time to . . . to heal.”

            Leo’s finger stopped moving but wasn’t withdrawn. “We’re going to go very slow. You’ll be on top so you can direct the speed, but this is happening, Donny. You have to toughen up.”

            It was the mixture of concern and callousness that almost pushed Don to open rebellion. His chest was heaving from the raw emotions and he could feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes for the first time since this ordeal had begun.

            Well aware that Leo was waiting, Don grasped at the thing that was anchoring him, the knowledge that he was the only one who could save their family. Pushing his despair away, Don called on the analytical side of his brain, deciding to treat this as an experiment.

            Nodding to give Leo the go ahead, Don’s hands tightened on his brother’s shoulders as Leo worked his finger further inside Don’s abused anal passage. Rather than trying to ignore the pain, Don focused on it, envisioning the nerves inside of him as tiny electrical currents, sending signals to his pain receptors.

            Concentrating, Don began to systematically reroute the signals, moving the unpleasant feeling to another area of his body. As he directed each signal, he changed its message from that of pain to that of pleasure.

            When Leo’s finger had traversed as far inside of Don as it could go he stopped moving to look into his younger brother’s eyes. Don stared back at him, the pleasurable messages having succeeded in fully arousing the genius. Leo groaned his desire when he saw Don’s expression and began to twist his finger inside his brother.

            Don gasped and pushed back against Leo’s hand. With little more encouragement, Leo inserted a second finger. The pain turned pleasure from that intrusion had Don almost fully engorged and he stopped trying to restrain his erection; his cock dropping from its hidden pocket to thump against Leo’s plastron.

            As Leo scissored his fingers inside of Don, he used his free hand to grasp Don’s cock, squeezing it gently before beginning to pump his brother.

            A churr rolled up from Don’s throat and Leo answered it with one of his own. His eyes were glued to Don’s face, no doubt watching for the signs that would tell him of his younger brother’s bliss.

            “Good, Donny, very good,” Leo murmured in encouragement as Don rocked towards him, trying to gain even more friction for his swollen and needy cock.

            The movement brought Don’s lower plastron into contact with the bulging area under Leo’s and within seconds Leo’s erection slipped into view beneath the water.

            Leo removed his fingers from Don’s ass and grabbed one of his brother’s butt cheeks. “It’s time now. Come up here and ride me.”

            Don nodded and lifted his lower body off of Leo’s lap. Once he was up high enough, Leo reached down and grasped his own dick, guiding it against Don’s entrance.

            “Down now,” Leo directed huskily.

            With a shudder, Don lowered himself slowly onto Leo’s cock. In a partial trance, Don was able to ignore the pain as Leo’s large shaft penetrated him, moving downward at a consistent pace until he was fully seated on his brother’s erection.

            Leo’s head tipped back and his eyelids fluttered as Don’s hot body wrapped itself around his cock. “Yes, perfect,” Leo moaned. “Perfect; you’re perfect. Fuck my cock, Donny.”

            The shock of those unexpectedly crude words delivered in Leo’s voice almost pulled Don from his meditative state, but by concentrating on the hand that was stroking his own erection he was able to stay in the moment.

            Very carefully, Don began to lift and lower himself on Leo’s cock, moving a little faster with each passing moment. Leo matched his speed, jacking Don with the exact same rhythm.

            Don could tell Leo was drawing close to an orgasm when his older brother’s hips began to lift to meet each downward movement. Leo’s eyes were half closed and he was panting, yet his hand on Don’s cock never faltered.

            When Leo lifted his body to grind his dick into Don’s ass he managed to hit Don’s prostate. Crying out from the pleasure, Don began practically falling on Leo’s cock, striving to make the hard member strike that set of nerves again.

            It worked with a precision that had Don shaking and groaning. His orgasm hit with blinding surprise and it was so violent that he didn’t even feel Leo’s climax just seconds later.

            Sucking air in through his open mouth, Don continued to moved up and down on Leo’s dwindling cock. Leo grabbed Don’s hips to stop him and then lunged upwards to capture Don’s mouth in a boldly hot kiss.

            They were both shivering by the time Leo pulled away from the kiss. Partly it was from the cooling water and partly from the after effects of such an intense coupling.

            Leo shifted beneath Don, urging his brother off of his lap. As Don slid back, Leo stood up and climbed out of the tub, grabbing a pair of towels. He swiftly dried himself and then helped Don out of the water, rubbing the younger Turtle dry with the second towel.

            Draping the towel over Don’s shoulders, Leo pulled the plug so that the bathwater could drain, taking with it the seed from their encounter. Don flushed at the thought and knew in that moment that there would be a time when the memory of his pleasure at the hands of pseudo-Leo would cause him a great deal of guilt.

            Leo picked up their gear and opened the bathroom door, guiding a semi-dazed Donatello through the hall. Neither Mikey nor Raph were anywhere to be seen, and Don could only guess they had both retired to their rooms.

            “You’re sleeping with me,” Leo explained as they passed Don’s room. “There is no need for you to ever sleep alone again.”

            Those words didn’t bring Don the comfort that Leo meant for them to; in fact, they brought Don no comfort at all.

TBC………………….


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 3,141  
> Rating: NC-17 Contains TCest and non-consensual adult situations  
> Pairing: Leo/Don  
> Summary: The power of leadership goes to Leonardo's head and he acts it out on the one brother who usually obeys him without question.

            As the pair entered Leo’s room, the leader guided Don directly to the bed, taking the damp towel from around his shoulders before urging the younger turtle to lie down. Once Don was prone, Leo pulled both the sheet and blanket over him.

            With Don comfortably tucked in, Leo walked over to his desk and set their gear in a neat pile on it, leaning Don’s bo staff against the wall. Leo draped the towel over the back of a chair and then crossed the room to close and lock the bedroom door.

            Don watched every one of Leo’s movements through half shut lids. He was warm, comfortable, and the high from the orgasmic endorphins was wearing off, leaving him feeling very sleepy. It was difficult not to go immediately to sleep, but he was in a race against time and anything pseudo-Leo did might offer Don a clue to ridding themselves of him.

            His locking the door told Don that this Leo didn’t trust Raph or Mikey. He knew they were trained ninjas and a simple door lock wouldn’t keep them out, but their having to pick the lock would give Leo the two seconds warning he needed to be ready for an attack.

            When Leo leaned his katanas against the nightstand near his side of the bed, it made Don pray that neither of his younger brothers try anything as bold as an attempted nighttime raid. Don was fairly certain Leo would meet such an attack with deadly force.

           Don expected Leo to crawl into bed then, but his brother went to stand in front of his ‘spy’ monitor instead. Using his remote, Leo brought Mikey’s room up on the screen. The only light that was on was the small one Mikey had next to his bed and though it was dim, it was easy to see that Mikey was asleep.

            Leo switched video feeds, going to the camera that was inside Raphael’s room. The red banded Turtle was sprawled on the futon that occupied a corner of his room and had a book propped up on his plastron. Don hadn’t seen his brother look so relaxed in a number of weeks and he wondered if the knowledge that Leo was preoccupied with Don might be the reason for Raph’s lack of anxiety.

            Don was surprised that he felt a little hurt by that. He had purposely put himself into this situation with pseudo-Leo to protect his brothers; it was Raph’s desperation that fueled Don’s resolve. Raph had said he would kill himself rather than let Leo touch him again, and Don believed Raph would do it.

            Still, it didn’t seem fair that Raph should look almost happy. Don mentally kicked himself in the ass; Raph wasn’t happy, far from it. Tonight his brother had found a few moments of peace and Don had done that for him. Rather than hurt, Don knew he should feel ecstatic.

            Then Don noticed that Leo was standing with his hands behind his back, staring at Raphael. Leo’s face wore the intensity of concentration that he usually saved for the dojo. Don glanced at the monitor and saw nothing unusual; Raph was flat on his carapace, a pillow holding his head up so he could see the book. Every once in a while he would flex his toes, but otherwise he was doing absolutely nothing.

            Leo continued to stare with rapt attention at the monitor, his expression enigmatic. Don’s sleepiness was replaced by concerned curiosity as he wondered if Leo had placed cameras in their rooms for some reason besides simply spying on them.

            It almost seemed as if Leo had stopped breathing; so intent was his focus. In another couple of minutes, Don watched as Leo moved one of his hands to his side and began rubbing his hip almost absentmindedly.

            The repetitive motion drew Don’s eyes and it was then he noticed the bulge in Leo’s plastron. Leo’s hand crept ever nearer to it; his eyes never leaving the monitor.

            Don felt a rush of heat sweep over his face and sat up. He didn’t want Leo to look at anyone but him; they had just had sex and it was only right that Leo give Don his undivided attention.

            The irrational surge of jealousy was both alarming and intriguing at the same time. Don was playing a role in order to protect his siblings from a sadistic imposter and to learn facts that would help in locating the real Leonardo. Somehow the line between victim and participate was becoming blurred.

            Despite his rationalization, Don couldn’t contain the resentment that was swirling inside of him as he watched Leo’s hand sweep across the spot where his erection was hidden. Leo’s eyes were still glued to Raph and whatever he was seeing was definitely exciting him.

            Clearing his throat, Don called softly, “Come to bed, Leo. It’s cold here without you.”

            There was no response from his brother, who remained fixated on Raphael. On top of Don’s jealousy came the fear that pseudo-Leo, having conquered Donatello, was bored and looking for a new challenge.

            Don’s eyes narrowed as he contemplated Leo. Giving in to his twisted brother’s whims would only offer a reprieve to his younger siblings if Leo still found some provocation in Don’s behavior. As a ninja, Donatello had been trained to change his fighting technique at a moment’s notice; it appeared that such a change was called for.

            Tossing back the covers, Don swung his legs off the bed and sat up abruptly. He paid for the quick move when a shooting pain lanced through his rear end, but he managed to swallow his groan.

            “I think it would be better if I slept in my own room,” Don said, purposely deepening his voice so that the tone was much harsher than normal.

            The sudden action and the sound of Don’s voice cut through the concentrated haze of his brother’s lust. Leo spun around and stalked towards where Don sat, approaching so quickly that Don didn’t have time to stand up.

            Placing one knee on the bed next to Don, Leo loomed over his younger brother, eyes flashing.

            “Is that jealousy I hear?” Leo asked in a husky whisper. “Are you feeling possessive of me?”

            “If you want my loyalty and my companionship as something more than a brother, the least you can do is remain focused on me,” Don said, showing no fear as he tipped his head back to return his brother’s stare.

            “Are you going to start dictating my actions? Do you think you’ve earned that right?” Despite the dangerous tone in his voice, Leo began caressing Don’s shoulder, leaning into him and forcing Don to tilt backwards on the bed.

            “Raph isn’t the most stubborn brother in this family,” Don said hoarsely, his emotions tumbling over one another. “He’s just the loudest.”

            “Whereas you are all about silent defiance,” Leo observed. “I wonder which is more dangerous to our family dynamic.”

            “You should know me by now, Leo,” Don said as Leo hooked a hand behind his neck. “I like to know exactly where I stand.”

            Leo’s mouth covered his almost before Don got the last word out. Don lifted his hands to Leo’s plastron so that he could shove his brother away, but Leo used his body weight and leverage to push Don back onto the bed.

            With his hand firmly on the back of Don’s neck, Leo held Don’s head in place as he began ravishing his brother’s mouth. Don fought Leo’s aggression for several minutes, his struggles bringing up churrs of pleasure from pseudo-Leo.

            Finally Don groaned in defeat. Leo’s other hand had been busy between them and Don was having a difficult time containing his erection.

            Leo chuckled and pulled away from Don’s mouth. “Stubborn doesn’t even begin to describe you little brother. Do you really want to deny yourself this pleasure just to prove a point?”

            “If . . . if I have t . . . to,” Don stuttered.

            With a knowing smile, Leo’s tongue slithered out of his mouth and swiped across Don’s lower lip. “I’m not going to penetrate you again, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Leo said. “Let’s try something different. I know you’re not averse to learning new things.”

            Before Don had a chance to ask what he meant, Leo was crawling over him, turning so that his lower plastron hovered just above Don’s face. Sliding his knees along the sheets, Leo performed a slow split until his crotch was within licking distance of Don’s mouth.

            Don blinked as he started to understand what was expected of him. As if to encourage his brother, Leo planted his tongue firmly on the spot in Don’s plastron that was slowly beginning to open. The heat and moisture was too much and Don released his cock into pseudo-Leo’s waiting mouth.

           Shuddering in reaction, Don lifted his head slightly and touched the tip of his tongue to the section of Leo’s shaft that had just begun to show. Leo churred as his cock dropped down, groaning when Don flicked his tongue repeatedly across the tip.

            Don watched in fascination as Leo’s cock began to harden right before his eyes. Using his tongue, he teased various spots across the thick, green length, discovering the places on Leo’s shaft that were the most sensitive.

            When Leo suddenly deep throated him, humming around the head of Don’s cock to vibrate it, the younger turtle gasped and swallowed his brother’s dick in reaction. Since it appeared that Leo was attempting to teach Don what felt the best to him, Don began to copy each of his brother’s actions.

            After a couple of minutes it became difficult to concentrate. Don could feel his orgasm building, spreading his legs wider as his hips wiggled against the bed. As Leo began to bob up and down on Don’s erection, the younger turtle moaned, suctioning onto Leo’s cock.

            Don could feel Leo’s cock throb inside his mouth, the veins along his shaft expanding, and the knowledge that his brother was about to blow his load caused Don to climax abruptly.

            His loud grunt pushed the head of Leo’s cock against the back of his throat and it was then that Leo exploded. As his brother’s cum began to pour into his gullet, Don choked and pulled back enough to swallow properly, feeling Leo doing the same to him.

            Still following his brother’s example, Don carefully cleaned Leo’s cock after his brother had fully expended himself inside Don’s mouth. Leo tucked Don away and Don did likewise, carefully positioning his brother’s dick into its hidden pocket.

            Don was breathing heavily, unable to move when Leo once more shifted, climbing off of the bed and grinning down at his immobile brother.

            Swiping the back of his hand across his mouth, Leo said, “That’s what I’ve always loved about you Donny, your ability to pick up new tricks so quickly.”

            Don wanted to protest out of pure embarrassment, but he was too tired and too sore to bother. Leo stooped down and grabbed his brother’s ankles, lifting them up and around so that Don was properly lying on the bed once more.

            Rearranging the bedding so that Don was again cocooned beneath them, Leo crossed to his side of the bed and slid in next to his brother. Extinguishing the lamp that sat on the bedside table plunged the room into darkness, with only the slight glow from Don’s alarm clock providing any light.

            The computer monitor was dark, indicating that Raph had turned out his lights and gone to sleep. That was good; Don didn’t think he had the strength to go another round with Leo and was afraid that seeing Raph any more tonight would arouse the imposter again.

            Leo pressed against Don’s side and nuzzled his shoulder, sighing in what could only be taken as extreme contentment.

            “Where do you get the energy to keep going?” Don couldn’t help but whisper.

            “You should learn more about yourself,” Leo whispered back, a hint of humor in his voice. “We are turtles, Donny. Sexual stamina is a part of our genes.”

            “It isn’t as though I’ve ever had an opportunity to discover that,” Don responded. “You’re the only one with whom I’ve ever been intimate.”

            “Mmm,” Leo hummed against his neck, “I’m very pleased to have you acknowledge that, although I guessed it from how naïve you are. Don’t worry, the two of us are going to have a lot of fun bringing you up to speed. There is so much more I intend to teach you.”

            Clutching Don tightly, Leo drifted off to sleep. Don was tired enough to join him, but his mind had begun racing at pseudo-Leo’s words and he couldn’t fall asleep.

            It wasn’t the solution to this problem that occupied Don’s thoughts though, it was an analysis of his own feelings and reactions that kept him awake.

            Though Don was trying desperately to hold onto the core Donatello, he could feel part of himself slipping away with each day that passed. The more that he accepted from pseudo-Leo, the more things became acceptable.

            Like this new physicality. Already Don had begun referring to what they did as sex rather than rape. That his body reacted to Leo’s sensual touches and vast knowledge wasn’t something that Don could control and intellectually he knew that Leo used that fact as a way to manipulate him.

            But Don had to admit that in some ways he really did like it. This was the closest he would ever come in his life to having a physical relationship with anyone and he knew that. The fact that this wasn’t his real brother pushed aside any feeling of guilt at succumbing to an incestuous relationship because it didn’t apply.

            That he performed these acts with another male was of no concern to Don either; to him the word ‘gay’ meant someone was very happy. There would never be any opportunity to procreate as they were the only ones of their kind and all males, so the instinctual need to seek out and mate with a female was dormant.

            Don knew that both Raphael and Michelangelo hated this Leo’s dominance by physical force; by the act of raping them to put it bluntly. Raph was as much an alpha male as Leonardo was and it was worse for him. But Don couldn’t discount Mikey’s feelings; his youngest brother wasn’t a passive personality either. Given the choice, both of them would prefer to lead in a relationship.

            Having chosen to play a submissive role to pseudo-Leo, Don found that he wasn’t at all averse to that position. He had spent nearly every day of his life working hard to find answers to the problems his family faced, using all his spare time trying to anticipate and provide for their needs. It felt good to turn his mind off for once and allow someone else to direct his actions.

            In the bedroom, Leo had no expectations of Don other than his succumbing to Leo’s desires. Leo always made certain that Don reached ultimate satisfaction in their couplings.

            With a start, Don suddenly realized what he was thinking. He was beginning to justify his actions because pseudo-Leo had shown him that sex could feel good. It was even possible that Don was becoming addicted to it; that this act he was sure he would never experience with anyone felt amazing.

            Was it possible that Leo was playing a game with him; that while Don was trying to manipulate Leo, his pseudo-brother was doing the same to him? Could it be that Leo’s show of desire while watching Raph on the monitor was merely a way to keep Don on his toes, or to discover how much Don was starting to need him?

            Don had to remember that if this pseudo-Leo was even one-tenth as astute as the real Leo, anything was possible. Although Leo seemed to have an insatiable sexual appetite, a large percentage of that was a basic act of control, just as rape was. None of it was about sex, it was about rage, power, and control.

            If Leo managed to create a need in Don for a sexual fix, would he then use that to manage his brother? Would he then move on to attempt the same things with Raph and Mikey?

            Don found that he couldn’t stand that thought, just asking himself the question made him jealous. He liked the feeling of Leo dragging him towards his peak and didn’t want to share that experience or Leo, with anyone else.

            Leo shifted in his sleep, his hand flattening on Don’s chest and Don reached up to rest his hand atop Leo’s. Sharing a bed was rather comforting.

            Sharing a bed with a sadistic rapist. Don was doing it again, forgetting that what was happening to his family was wrong, forgetting the danger they all were in, and forgetting that his real brother was lost somewhere, possibly fighting for his life.

            He was starting to day-dream about life with pseudo-Leo and that was unacceptable and frightening. The longer the fake Leo remained, the harder it was going to be for Don to get rid of him.

            Don knew he couldn’t wait any more in finding out what had happened to his Leo, how the fake one came to be in their home, and how to set things right. If he didn’t do this soon, Don was going to lose himself to a new reality and leave his siblings at the mercy of pseudo-Leo.

            With Leo asleep at his side and his brothers safe for the moment, Don pushed aside all thoughts of the psychology of both he and Leo’s interactions and focused on the biggest question that was facing him.

            Given the very limited time-frame in which to operate, Don had to come up with a plan that would get him into Master Splinter’s room. He also had to run through every alternate scenario he could imagine, including one that involved his getting caught by pseudo-Leo.

            There was more at stake than just the fact that Leo planned to brick up the entrance to Master Splinter’s room. Getting rid of pseudo-Leo now was the only way to ensure that Raph and Mikey stayed safe and to increase the positive odds for getting the real Leo back home.

            It also needed to be done soon for another reason; if Donatello waited too much longer, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to let go of a fake Leo who so satisfied the physical side of Don’s nature. If Donatello waited too much longer, being able to get rid of fake Leo might just become impossible for him.

TBC………………..


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 3,307  
> Rating: NC-17 Contains TCest and non-consensual adult situations  
> Pairing: Leo/Don  
> Summary: The power of leadership goes to Leonardo's head and he acts it out on the one brother who usually obeys him without question.

            When Donatello finally drifted off to sleep, it was anything but restful. His dreams were plagued by demons and suffering souls, all of whom resembled his brothers.

            Every scene ended in exactly the same way; pseudo-Leo stood before him, a wicked smile covering more than half his face; glowing embers showing in his eyes. His arm would lift slowly in Don’s direction and his hand would unfurl, beckoning for Don to come forward and join him.

            Behind the fake Leo, Don could see a shimmering pool containing the real Leo. His brother was shouting and pounding on an invisible barrier with the side of his fist. Sometimes the pool was a looking glass and other times a glacier. But they all showed the same image of a brother trapped and desperate, and the one who had taken his place complacent and sleek.

            Don’s eyes would always turn to his real brother, but before his feet could move, the fake one had descended on him, his frenzied mouth seeking Don’s and his hands grasping and pulling until Don was lost in a sea of purely lustful feelings.

            Though none of the dreams woke him, they simply rewound and played again, something finally did pull Don from his slumber. The feeling of an early morning erection greeted his half wakened state and he nearly groaned aloud at the unfortunate timing.

            It was then he realized that his legs had been pushed apart and his brother was between them. Shoving himself upright, he saw Leo teasing his shaft with the edge of his tongue, a faint grin touching his lips.

            Leo glanced up when he saw Don’s movement. “This woke up before you did,” Leo said, “I couldn’t stand to see it go to waste.”

            As Leo nudged Don’s length with his beak, Don found he didn’t have the voice to reply, instead shaking when Leo took Don’s turgid shaft wholly into his mouth. Unable to suppress a moan, Don’s fingers dug into the sheets as his brother teased and coaxed him to completion.

            Leo swallowed Don’s ejaculate with a greedy slurping sound, licking Don’s penis clean as it limply slid from his mouth. So many mornings Don had awakened to find his cock fully aroused and was forced to use his hand to deal with the problem. Having someone suck him off was a thousand times better.

            Chest heaving, Don cracked open one eye to see Leo’s satisfied expression and then his brother rose onto his knees between Don’s legs.

            Both of Don’s eyes snapped open then, his body stiffening. He didn’t think that he could handle being penetrated again; his anus was sore and tiny hairline cracks in the skin surrounding his opening stung terribly at the slightest touch.

            Before he could begin to voice a protest, Leo sat down, spreading his legs wide, his calves draped across Don’s knees.

            “I know you’re hurting,” Leo said considerately. “You can return the favor another way.”

            When Don lifted himself onto his elbows, Leo lay back on his carapace, his hand busy between his legs. Leo churred as his cock sprang up hard and needy.

            Taking a deep breath, Don slid out from under Leo’s legs and crawled between them, his upper body lowering so that he could paint a long, wet stripe along his brother’s thick shaft. Leo moved his hand out of the way, stretching his fingers out to stroke Don’s cheek, and then he set both hands firmly on the bedding.

            Thus encouraged, Don began licking and sucking Leo’s cock in earnest, using every technique that Leo had taught him. Leo’s churrs grew louder, even turning to groans of pleasure when Don raked the edge of his teeth along the shaft.

            Don felt an exhilarated thrill at hearing Leo’s enjoyment and he quickly flicked his tongue over the sensitive tip of Leo’s cock. When Leo’s head began to roll from side to side, Don experienced a massive power rush, proud that he could cause Leo’s eyes to squeeze shut in ecstasy.

            Feeling bold, Don trailed one hand along Leo’s thigh and then dipped it between his brother’s legs so that he could manipulate Leo’s tail. As he rolled the tip between his fingers, Leo’s hips jerked off the bed and he grunted noisily, his enjoyment obvious.

            Don wasn’t sure why he felt the need to go further, but he was operating completely on instinct. Tracing his fingers along the underside of Leo’s tail, Don pressed the tip of one against Leo’s entrance.

            The effect was instantaneous as Leo’s cock erupted into Don’s mouth, his climax more violent than any Don had experienced from his brother. It was all Don could do to contain the strong flow and for the first time it was Don’s choice not to waste any.

            Leo lay panting on the bed as Don completed the ritual of fully cleaning his brother’s member and then tucking it away. He had just finished the task when Leo sat up in order to grasp Don’s upper arms and pull the genius on top of him.

            Their lips met and then Leo’s tongue darted into Don’s mouth, curling over the genius’ tongue to combine their individual essences. The resultant taste was something Don found to be pleasantly indescribable.

            Leo broke the kiss and stared at Don for a long moment before a corner of his mouth lifted.

            “Does my little brother suddenly have a desire to top?” Leo asked.

            Don felt the heat rise in his face and he swallowed as the concept took hold. He had never dared hope to have the opportunity to engage in true sexual intercourse with anyone; he could only imagine how incredible it must feel to push his cock into a tight, hot body.

            Of course Leo saw the spark of lust that darkened Don’s brown eyes and the subtle color change along the young genius’ neck.

            “N . . . no,” Don stuttered, faltering as he tried to quell his lascivious thoughts.

            Leo laughed. “Liar. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll give you that chance. It’s only fair that having whetted your appetite, I should give you more than just a taste.”

            Don could almost hear his own heart thumping in his chest. He had no chance to respond as Leo began to once more ply his mouth with ravenous kisses.

            After several long and gratifying moments, Leo finally drew back and pressed Don’s head to his shoulder, stroking his brother’s arm soothingly until Don became extremely drowsy.

            “Rest a little longer,” Leo murmured softly, “then it will be time for practice. We’ll go down together. Together; doesn’t that sound wondrous?”

            Don hummed agreeably as he pressed his mouth against Leo’s skin. He felt quite proud of himself for having pleased Leo; for doing things that made Leo want to be with _him_.

            Then the gentle sound of Leo’s voice suddenly seemed to have a hollow echo and the words felt false as Don’s mind screamed at him to snap back to reality. Leo had expertly used Don’s body in order to awaken an old hunger, something that Leo, even this false one, had to understand. Being a mutated turtle meant that the daydream of physical love had to stay exactly that and indulging in it was pseudo-Leo’s way of further manipulating Don.

            It was beautifully dangled bait and Don was trying to swallow it. He had been thinking that he had done something great in making Leo happy when he shouldn’t give a damn. The only thing Don knew he should be concerned with was fooling this Leo into believing he had Don under his thumb.

            If Don didn’t find a way to remain focused, his desire for sexual gratification was going to get some of his brothers killed, starting with the real Leo.

            As Leo had promised, he and Don walked into the dojo side by side. Raph and Mikey were already waiting for them, doing stretching exercises as they warmed up their muscles.

            Both brothers stood at attention when Leo appeared. Before Don could walk over to join them, Leo deliberately caught his arm to stop him. Don turned a puzzled look on Leo and his brother pressed a chaste yet affectionate kiss to his mouth.

            Don felt the flush of embarrassment creep up his face as Leo let him go, tapping his ass gently with one hand to urge Don into the lineup. Walking over to stand next to Mikey, Don tried to meet his brother’s eyes, but Raph’s were shooting daggers at him. Fortunately he refrained from saying anything, choosing to remain silent and surly. Mikey’s expression on the other hand was inquisitive, his brow creased in thought as his eyes flitted from Don to Leo. Don’s youngest brother could be as mentally agile as he was physically, and Don knew that he was probably reasoning through his genius brother’s actions.

            The brothers moved through stretching exercises to katas, and then to forms. Leo was terse but more tolerant than normal, finding fewer faults with his siblings than he usually did. The more relaxed atmosphere had Mikey performing flawlessly and that garnered him some praise from the leader.

            When it was time to spar, Leo pitted Raph and Mikey against one another, and he took Don. The split was predictable and Don worked as hard as he could to show Leo that he was just as good a ninja as the others. His strength helped; certain basic moves didn’t work on him because like Raph, his musculature countered them admirably.

            Just when Don thought they would escape this practice session without incident, Leo announced that they would switch sparring partners. He placed Don with Mikey and called for Raph to spar with him.

            Remembering the look on Leo’s face from the night before as he stared at Raph through the monitor, Don’s heart began to hammer rapidly. Feeling the first twinge of jealousy, Don forced it back, determined not to succumb to something so ridiculous. What wasn’t ridiculous however, was the real fear that Leo purposely chose to spar with Raph after baiting him with the lascivious show at the start of practice.

            Don’s mind raced as he tried to think of some way to control what he feared might happen, but after a couple of seconds he knew there was nothing he could do. He squared off against Mikey as he kept the corner of his eye trained on the other two in the hopes that if something broke out he might be able to manage damage control.

            Mikey rushed him and Don was barely quick enough to block his initial strike. Then Mikey grabbed his arm and pulled him forward, hooking a foot behind Don’s ankle. Just before taking his brother down, Mikey whispered, “Try to make this look good; I’ll help you watch them.”

            Don fell, his wide eyes staring up into Mikey’s. There was a determined upturn at the corners of Mikey’s mouth and Don remembered how they used to play fight when they were kids, going through a routine they’d privately made up for when they were too tired to actually spar. It had worked with Master Splinter only once, but they both remembered the moves.

            As they started their routine, Don watched Raph and Leo. They were still circling one another, Leo’s expression neutral but his eyes challenging. Raph’s muscles were a little too tight; Don could see the pulse pounding in his neck and the movement of his jaw as he clenched his teeth.

            With a roar, he dove at Leo, his heavy fists swinging dangerously. Leo neatly sidestepped him, bringing the side of his hand down hard against the back of Raph’s neck.

            Raph stumbled slightly but caught himself, spinning as Leo rushed him from behind. Leo ducked a hard punch meant for his mouth, delivering a body jarring strike of his own to Raph’s gut.

            Don knew his Leo was fast, but this one seemed to be wearing devil’s wings. Raph’s fists were hammer heavy and offered brutal punishment when he struck, but he just couldn’t hit Leo. With each passing moment, Raph grew more infuriated, and Don realized that Leo was pushing him purposely, teasing him with flitting movements as he delivered blow after blow with wicked precision.

            Then Raph’s eyes seemed to change color, glowing with the fierce brightness that signaled his change from thinking ninja to a being controlled by a terrible frenzied rage.

            Don rolled away from Mikey and jumped to his feet with a gasp. He and his younger brother immediately stopped fighting, both frozen as Raph launched himself at Leo, the strong muscles in his legs carrying him further than Leo had expected.

            Together they crashed to the mats, Raph bellowing his fury as his fist connected with Leo’s jaw. Don saw the dangerous glitter in Leo’s eyes as his head was popped sideways by the blow and then he twisted out of Raph’s grasp, turning partway over and shoving his carapace into Raph’s chin.

            Raph’s head was snapped back by the blow and he lost his grip on Leo’s arm. Swinging blindly, his knuckles grazed Leo’s outer thigh, the blow hard enough to make his older brother drop to one knee.

            Before Raph could press his advantage, Leo mule kicked him, his foot taking Raph squarely in the chest. Raph flew backwards, hitting the mats hard enough to push them off the floor and into a scattered pile.

            Blood thundering in his temples, Raph leaped to his feet and came straight at Leo again. The pair stood toe to toe, raining blows on each other and scattering droplets of blood across the floor around them as their calloused fists cut through skin.

            Don’s voice seemed to have left him. At his side, Mikey whispered hoarsely, “We need to stop them.”

            That was obvious but Don didn’t seem to know how. His brain was sluggish, his mind transfixed by the scene playing out in front of him. Part of him was afraid to defy Leo by interfering, the other part struggling to keep his promise to protect Raph.

            Below all of that was a tiny part of his mind that hoped Raph would get the upper hand and beat Leo into unconsciousness. Maybe even kill him.

            The thought that Raph was beyond reason and would actually kill Leo was like a splash of cold water to Don’s foggy brain. Even as he began to snap back to reality, Leo suddenly twisted sideways and dropped to one knee, swinging the other foot out to sweep Raph’s feet from under him.

            Raph was so focused on just hitting his brother he didn’t see the move coming and fell hard. Rolling onto his plastron, he got his hands under him so that he could push off the ground when Leo landed squarely on his carapace.

            Leo’s weight drove Raph flat on his face, but before he could shove his body upwards, Leo had curved an arm around his neck and the other across his forehead, pulling his head forcefully backwards.

            Don saw the muscles in Leo’s arm bulge as he applied pressure to Raph’s windpipe. Raphael’s eyes jutted from their sockets; his neck was thick and well protected by muscle, but Leo’s grip was strongly unrelenting.

            The look on Leonardo’s face was vicious as his lips curled back from his teeth. “You learn so slowly Raph,” Leo hissed. “Maybe I should stop playing with you and really teach you a lesson.”

            Raph’s mouth opened as he tried to suck air into his overworked lungs; scrabbling at the ground with his hands but unable to find a solid purchase. Leo ignored his brother’s fight to breathe, almost as though he wanted Raph to pass out, or worse.

            Grabbing his bo, Don jabbed it between Leo’s plastron and Raph’s carapace, lifting it quickly as soon as the end touched the floor on the other side of them. The heavy wooden staff broke Leo’s hold and he jerked his arms back, allowing Raph to fall to the floor.

            “No more,” Don said, his voice cracking with emotion.

            Leo’s chest heaved as his body fought for oxygen, his eyes glued to Don. Rising slowly, he stepped away from Raph and Don carefully replaced the bo in its spot against his shell.

            Mikey rushed forward, falling on his knees next to Raph. His hot headed brother was semi-conscious and his eyes rolled up to look at the youngest, his body shuddering as he struggled to pull in air.

            “You could have crushed his windpipe!” Mikey shouted, adrenaline coursing through his veins.

            “That is exactly what I have been trying to teach all of you,” Leo said, his voice low and menacing. “Do you think practice is a game? Do you think our enemies won’t take advantage of a momentary lapse in your concentration? When I fight I do so to win. The rest of you had better do the same or someone else in this room is going to learn the same lesson I just gave Raphael.”

            Staring meaningfully at Donatello for a fraction of a moment, Leo then spun on his heel and stormed out of the dojo.

            Raph was trying to sit up when Don turned back to look at him. Mikey’s hand was beneath his shoulder, helping him rise. Don came quickly over to them, reaching for Raph’s arm so that he could help as well, but before he touched Raph, his brother smacked his hand aside.

            “I don’t need your help,” Raph snarled, his voice rough and low. The effort to talk made him cough and Mikey held onto him until the fit passed.

            “I’m sorry,” Don whispered. “I’m doing the best I can.”

            Raph opened his mouth to make another cutting remark but Mikey pressed a finger to his lips to quiet him.

            “Let him alone, Raphie,” Mikey said softly. “You have no idea what Don’s been going through for us.”

            Raph glanced up at Mikey and saw the sorrow in his youngest brother’s eyes. Slowly nodding, Raph’s lip quivered and he bit down on it, turning his face up to Don.

            The understanding that he saw from both his brothers constricted his heart, his stomach rolling with nerves. Don felt his eyes fill with tears though he tried desperately to hide them by blinking them away. A couple squeezed past his closed lids and spilled onto his cheeks.

            Mikey jumped up quickly, coming towards him but Don swiftly backed away.

            “No, don’t,” Don whispered. “Please. I can’t be effective unless he believes I’m on his side.”

            The hand that Mikey had lifted returned to his side. His blue eyes reflected the pain he was feeling as he looked from Don to Raph and back again.

            “You can’t do this all alone,” Mikey told him, keeping his voice low.

            “I’m not alone,” Don said quietly. “As long as the two of you don’t lose hope I know that you’re with me. Whatever I do, or whatever he does to me, you have to let it happen. Trust me.”

            Mikey swallowed and his chin quivered before his pinched voice squeaked out, “Okay.”

            “Don,” Raph croaked. “Donny, I . . . .”

            “Raph, don’t,” Don told him with a small smile. “It’s all right; really it is. Just let me do this.”

            Raph searched his brother’s eyes and finally said, “Yeah.”

            “Let’s get some breakfast then,” Don said, inhaling deeply to control his scattered emotions. “Everything like normal, okay?”

            Standing, Raph hooked an arm over Mikey’s shoulders and caressed his sore neck.

            “Normal,” Raph said, looking at both his brothers. “What exactly is that again?”

            Don’s eyes closed briefly and when they reopened, there was a new resolve in them.

            “It’s what we’re going to get back to very soon,” he promised.

TBC…………….


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 4,558  
> Rating: NC-17 Contains TCest and non-consensual adult situations  
> Pairing: Leo/Don  
> Summary: The power of leadership goes to Leonardo's head and he acts it out on the one brother who usually obeys him without question.

            Pseudo-Leo did not make an appearance at the breakfast table, a fact that had Don giving thanks for small favors.

            As Raph and Mikey preceded him into the kitchen, Don’s automatic glance towards Master Splinter’s room showed him the flickering light of candles behind the shoji. Don had a feeling that was where Leo would go after his stormy exit from the dojo.

            Don knew his younger brothers probably weren’t any hungrier than he was after that mornings disastrous practice session, but he also knew they had to eat if for no other reason than to maintain their strength.

            He went straight to the coffee maker and set about making a pot that was a little stronger than usual, trying to decide how to get them to eat something. When he realized his dilemma he nearly laughed; how many times over the years had his family tried to get him to think more about food?

            Mikey beat him to the solution by quickly making a pot of oatmeal and cutting up some fruit to go along with it. While he worked, Mikey kept up a constant stream of nonsense chatter, mostly about the latest video game that held him in its sway.

            The inane babble washed over Don like a soothing tide; stripping away his tension and his fear that he’d have to make small talk with brothers who were just as traumatized as he was. Don could see that Mikey’s rambling soliloquy was having the same calming effect on Raph, whose shoulders were slowly relaxing as the minutes passed.

            It was one of Mikey’s many gifts, that ability to lighten the worst moods by distracting and pulling his brother’s thoughts away from their worries. Don thought it probably helped Mikey as well; giving the youngest something else to focus on.

            When the coffee was ready, Don poured out a steaming cup of the brew and set it on the table in front of Raph. His brother’s eyes were closed but the scent of the coffee opened them and Raph glanced up at Don, his face expressionless.

            “The warmth will help your throat,” Don said gently.

            Raph’s lips pulled back into the semblance of a smile and then flattened back out quickly. “Thanks,” he rasped, lifting the cup to take a sip of the dark liquid.

            Mikey set the fruit and some condiments in the middle of the table and then placed three bowls of fresh oatmeal there as well. Don sat down and slid one of the bowls closer, rewarding his youngest brother with a grateful smile when Mikey handed him a spoon before taking a seat himself.

            Raph looked at his bowl for a few minutes while Mikey continued to talk between bites, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his red banded sibling wasn’t moving. With a sigh, Raph finally pulled the bowl in front of him and reached for the sugar and strawberries.

            When the meal was over, Don started to help Mikey put things away, but his youngest brother stopped him.

            “I’ve got this; Raph will sit here and keep me company,” Mikey said. “You should probably go to your lab and get some work done while you can.”

            The look that Mikey gave him was meaningful and Don caught on quickly.

            “You’re right, there are some things I’ve been trying to get around to reading up on,” Don said, meeting Mikey’s eyes.

            With a last quick glance at Raph, Don left the kitchen and headed directly to his lab. The door to Master Splinter’s room showed him the candlelight playing behind it, so Don assumed Leo was still in there.

            Knowing how dangerous it was to make assumptions regarding pseudo-Leo, Don remained cautious. Rather than closing the door after he entered the lab, Don left it partially open to give what he hoped was the appearance of normalcy.

            Going to the bookcase, Don took down several reference books, amongst them the book on kinetic energy that Mikey told him held the notes he and Raph had written. Don took great care to make sure his actions appeared usual; he had no way of knowing if Leo might slip past the lab and up to his room so that he could spy on the genius, nor did Don know that Leo wasn’t already doing exactly that.

            Don pulled a pad of paper and a pen from his desk drawer and began opening books randomly, making a show of perusing several pages in each before setting them aside. He was careful to leave the books open in piles on his desk, and to make quick notes about some of the things he’d read.

            Strategically situating his body between the camera and desk, Don finally flipped open the book that was his primary target all along. Don didn’t need to search for his brother’s notes; the book fell open at the spot where Mikey had placed several sheets of folded paper.

            The first two sheets were covered in Raph’s distinctly bold handwriting. Keeping alert for his oldest brother’s approach, Don settled in to read.

            _“I ain’t sure how much help this is gonna be,”_ Raph’s missive began, _“but you’re the genius around here. That day when Master Splinter left, he called me into his room just like he did with you guys._

            _“He said he was leaving for a while; that he was going on a journey. ‘Course I asked him how long he was gonna be gone, but he got this kind of far away look in his eyes and just said he’d be back as soon as he could._

_“The way he looked when he said that sorta worried me so I asked him where he was going. All he would tell me was that he was gonna have to go a long way from home and that he’d have to travel through one of those Nexus portals to get there._

_“Before I could say anything else he told me he needed to ask me to do something for him. He said he needed me to stay vigilante and watchful while he was gone. I told him I always do that but he said this time it was even more important than usual ‘cause he wouldn’t be here to help us sense an attack._

_“He told me to stay close to home and he knew that was gonna be a sacrifice for me since he understood that going topside keeps me sane. Master Splinter said something about how our enemies have lots of resources and that the four of us had to stay close to each other to ward off any possibility of them surprising us._

_“There was something about staying safe in there; him saying that I should stay safe or that I needed to keep you guys safe. Hell, probably he said both of those things._

_“Then he told me that he expected me to refrain from having any serious arguments with you guys and I might have gotten mad about that if I wasn’t so worried about him taking off. I figured what he really meant was that I wasn’t supposed to get into any fights with Leo._

_“He asked me to be patient with all of you and I guessed that part he probably said to everyone. Master Splinter said that no matter how upset I got that I had to remember that Leo was in charge – like I could forget that!_

_“That was something he stressed a few times, that thing about Leo being in charge. He said Leo was more than the leader now and I had to remember my duty above everything else. I doubt if Master Splinter figured the shit that’s been going on here into his lecture. Perfect Leo’s gone off the deep end and if sensei doesn’t get back soon, it’s gonna be kill or get killed._

_“Sorry Donny, I know you don’t like that kinda talk. Anyway, he dismissed me after that but I couldn’t leave without trying one more time to get him to tell me where he was going. You know that look he gets on his face when he’s remembering something from a long time ago? He had that look when he told me that the journey was one of discovery and in aid of a friend._

_“I know he could see I wasn’t too happy about that answer but he wouldn’t say another damn thing. Might as well try to get a rock to talk._

_“I wish like hell I had more but I don’t. After I left the room, Master Splinter called Mikey in and I guess you’ll read what they talked about from his notes. Like I said before, I don’t see a fucking thing here that’s worth two cents. More power to you for trying. Raph.”_

            Don sighed as he finished reading Raph’s note, folding and setting it aside. There were one or two things that piqued his interest, but they didn’t really tell him much. Instead the entire thing seemed to raise more questions and Don thought Master Splinter couldn’t have been more cryptic if he’d tried.

            Taking a quick, furtive glance towards the door, Don pulled a couple of books towards him, turning pages and making notes before deciding he’d put on enough of a show to safely take the time to read Mikey’s note.

            Mikey’s handwriting was as distinct as Raph’s but in a completely different way. Mikey wrote with a flourish, his letters formed for maximum visual effect. Raph said even his writing was an attempt to show off, to which Mikey countered that if you had it, you should flaunt it.

            Don chuckled at the memory; sure that Mikey had never made an attempt to calm his flamboyant style because it aggravated Raph. Sometimes Don thought that Mikey’s goal in life was to infuriate his red banded brother, even though deep down Don knew Mikey just wanted Raph to lighten up and not take things so seriously.

            If going topside kept Raph sane, so did Mikey. Raph would never admit that but Don knew the truth of it almost as well as he knew his own face. Pseudo-Leo undoubtedly knew it as well; otherwise Raph might have blown up long ago. Leo dangled Raph’s misery in front of Don to keep the genius in line; he certainly wouldn’t miss the chance to hold Mikey’s safety over Raph’s head.

            Opening Mikey’s notes, Don took a second to let his eyes adjust to Mikey’s flourishes and then began reading.

_“Raph’s across the table from me scribbling away and I know he’s doing this partly ‘cause he hopes you’ll figure out what’s wrong with Leo but also ‘cause he’s really worried about you. Giving him something to do is always better than making him just sit around and wait._

_“Okay so, Master Splinter wanted to talk to me after he got done with Raph and since Raph told me sensei was going away when he came to get me the first thing I did when I got to Master Splinter’s room was ask him where he was going._

_“He said there was a journey that he needed to undertake and that he couldn’t say how long he’d be gone. I asked him what kind of journey and from the way he hesitated I guessed he didn’t really wanna say much more than that, but you know how much I hate when anyone tries to keep things from me. I said, ‘Come on sensei, what kind of journey makes you go all secretive with us? Are you gonna be in danger? Maybe instead of going alone we should go with you.’_

_“In the back of my mind I was thinking how we’d followed him to the Battle Nexus tournament that time and maybe he’d remember that and decide that letting us go with him was better than taking a chance we’d follow him again._

_“I’m trying to remember exact words for you ‘cause that’s probably better than me trying to take shortcuts and maybe leaving out something important. He said, ‘No my son, this is not a journey that you can accompany me on, nor do I want to be followed. Any attempt to do so will not be tolerated.’_

_“Master Splinter said that pretty sharply, using that ‘we won’t discuss this further’ tone of voice, so I dropped it for the moment. Sometimes the best way to get stuff out of him is to make him think you aren’t gonna talk about it anymore, especially when he’s agitated. Then once he calms down you can hint around and get him to tell you something else._

_“When he saw that I was leaving the subject alone, he said the main thing he wanted to talk to me about was what he expected me to do while he was gone. Let’s see if I can give that to you verbatim – ha-ha, I’ll bet you didn’t know I knew that word!_

_“He said, ‘Michelangelo, while I am gone I want you to be certain that our home does not grow dark. Do not allow your brothers to become morose or withdrawn. It is your responsibility to ensure that the four of you remain close to each other and that petty differences do not drive apart your familial bond.’_

_“I don’t know about you, but those words sure sounded like they were being said by a guy who’s planning on being gone for a long time._

_“Anyway, Master Splinter also told me to make sure that the household routines are maintained, which of course I took to mean we should all try to eat together and have family movie night and not let Raph get out of his turn to vacuum._

_“I gotta be honest Donny and say I might’ve missed some of the stuff he said ‘cause my mind kept going back to how I was gonna get him to tell me where he was going. I’m pretty sure that if he did say anything unusual I would’ve heard that; I usually only tune out words I’ve already heard a lot._

_“When he got to the point where I knew he was about to dismiss me, I jumped in and said that I’d do my best to make sure you guys didn’t all wallow in fits of depression, but it was gonna be hard ‘cause we’d all be worrying about him. Then I said he could save us a lot of misery if he’d just give us an idea of where he was going and if it was a safe place._

_“At first I thought he was gonna ignore me but I just kept staring at him expectantly and he finally said ‘Commitments are a serious thing, Michelangelo. When one makes a commitment to a friend, one is honor bound to follow through, no matter that the friend has changed and that the nature of the friendship has done likewise. My journey is to discover how drastic that change has become and to fulfill a commitment. You and your brothers must not worry about me. We will speak no more of this.’_

_“He meant it too ‘cause he practically kicked me out of his room then. That’s it, Donny, that’s all I have. I hope this helps because I’m doing a horrible job of following Master Splinter’s orders about making sure our home doesn’t get dark. I don’t think it could get much darker. I’m scared for us, probably more scared than I’ve ever been in my life. You’ve always been good about getting the lights turned on, I’m sure hoping you can work some of your magic and fix Leo.”_

            Don folded Mikey’s note slowly and tucked it inside the papers that Raph had written his on. He set them on the desk in front of him and sat back to think, the palm of his hand weighing the papers down as though he could divine something new from the written words by touching them.

            It struck him that while Raph’s note relayed a lot of his current feelings, Mikey’s had been more upbeat, more like his usual self. Don realized that those differences shouldn’t have surprised him; Raph was more the glass is half empty kind of guy, and Mikey definitely saw the glass as half full and waiting for more to be poured into it.

            Journey, old friend, discovery, commitment; none of it made sense. The only part of Master Splinter’s life after mutation that they didn’t know inside and out was when he had travelled to and won the Battle Nexus tournament.

            His use of the Nexus portal as a means of travel seemed to point to that time as well. Three things appeared clear to Don; the friend who had changed was someone Master Splinter had met during the tournament, that the journey Master Splinter undertook was not on Earth, and that it was most probably dangerous.

            Don thought he understood why his Leo had spent so much time in Master Splinter’s room after their Father had left. No doubt Master Splinter’s conversation with the eldest had been along similar lines to their own and had left Leo dissatisfied and distressed. The anxiety over the possibility that their sensei was walking into danger without any kind of backup would have driven Leo crazy.

            Master Splinter had foreseen that they might attempt to disobey him as they had done before. He had taken the precaution of telling them that the portal he was using would deliver him to a crossroads and that there he would take a different portal to his destination. Following him through the first would lead them exactly nowhere.

            With most of their avenues cut off, Leo had put on a brave face and told his brothers that they would honor Master Splinter’s wishes and wait for his return. But Don knew that those words were mainly to keep Raph and Mikey in check; for Leo himself the concern would have been too much.

            Therefore the trips to Master Splinter’s room; ostensibly to meditate. Don had suspected that Leo had spent time in there searching for answers as to where their Father had gone. Master Splinter’s room was the one place in the lair that held his most personal belongings; the place where their Father surrounded himself with memories of the past and a logical place to try to learn something about this mystery ‘friend’ of his.

            Leo must have found something amongst Master Splinter’s things and gone out at some point when his brothers were otherwise occupied. Whatever Leo had tried had backfired and led to his swapping places with pseudo-Leo, the psychopath.

            There were so many questions plaguing Don; if Leo took what he found with him then why hadn’t pseudo-Leo gotten rid of it? Why bring it back to the lair, if indeed he had? If he hadn’t, why else would he be so protective of Master Splinter’s room? What could it be that would cause the fake Leo to brick up Master Splinter’s room rather than surreptitiously disposing of the thing?

            Once more all roads led to Master Splinter’s room and it was time for Don to stop pussyfooting around and get his butt in there. A half formed idea had been floating around in his head since the previous night and now Don decided to flesh it out and examine it more closely.

            Don was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the shadow pass his door and then come back. The creak of the hinges startled him out of his reverie and he looked up to see Leo coming towards him.

            “You were deep in thought,” Leo said as he approached.

            Don’s fingers curled slightly, catching the folded notes so he could quickly palm them.

            “Just researching an idea I had for changing the propulsion on the shell sub,” Don said.

            “I see,” Leo said, stopping next to the desk.

            He reached over and picked up one of Don’s books, flipping through the pages with a show of casual curiosity, but Don noticed that his brother’s eyes weren’t on the book, they were on the desk.

            “I suppose this all makes sense to you,” Leo continued as he set the book down and lifted another. “’Integrated Electric Power Systems’. What percentage of the population of New York do you suppose would even begin to understand this book?”

            The question was obviously rhetorical so all Don did was chuckle in response. As Leo reached for a third book, Don shifted his hand to his lap, taking the notes with him.

            “When you have an idea, you really go all out in pursuit of it, don’t you? My brother the genius; fixated, determined, relentless, and unable to let things go. Do you still get those bad headaches?” Leo asked, his eyes lifting to meet Don’s.

            Don lifted his note pad and shook it, the flapping of the pages covering the crinkle of the notes he was hastily shoving into his belt. Don’s hands were quick; over the years he’d learned they had to be.

            “Sometimes, but I’ve gotten better about jotting things down rather than trying to keep it all in my head the way I used to,” Don said. “That’s some improvement.”

            “Yes, it is,” Leo agreed, setting the book down. “Being careful not to bite off more than you can chew would be another. You aren’t trying to do too much, are you Donny? Not trying to delve into things that wouldn’t actually be of advantage to anyone, especially to you?”

            Don’s heart was thumping so loudly in his chest he wouldn’t have been surprised to know that Leo could hear it.

            “I have plenty of challenges to keep me busy,” Don said quietly. “Plus I’ve found something that actually helps me sleep better than I ever have, something that helps me fall asleep without my usual struggle. The added rest has helped me to think more clearly.”

            He was gazing up at Leo through hooded eyes, his voice an octave lower. Leo responded to the tone, turning his body so that his plastron was directly in front of his younger brother’s face.

            “I hope you haven’t taken to using drugs, Donny,” Leo said in a husky whisper.

            Don slipped off his chair smoothly, dropping to his knees in front of Leo. Placing his hands on Leo’s thighs, Don tilted his head back and said, “It’s becoming habit forming, if that’s what you mean.”

            Gently pushing against his brother’s thighs, Don urged Leo to spread his legs further apart. Leo stared down at Don, his breath quickening as his younger brother captured his tail between talented fingers. With a seductive smile, Don leaned forward and with his tongue painted a wet stripe on the center front line of Leo’s plastron, grazing the softer cartilage of the slit between Leo’s legs.

            It took but a few minutes effort to make Leo drop down, his cock swelling to a proper erection inside the heat of Don’s mouth. Leo began to churr as Don performed fellatio on him, his hands clutching at Don’s head as the genius deep throated him repeatedly.

            Leo’s head fell back, his eyes slowly closing as he started to thrust into Don’s mouth. The swelling and pulsing of Leo’s cock told Don that his brother’s orgasm was imminent. Don tightened his lips around Leo’s shaft and began to move faster, making sure that his tongue slid along the underside of Leo’s penis with every movement.

            When Leo’s thighs began to tremble, Don deep throated his brother’s cock again and then moaned, low and long. It was enough to tip Leo over into his orgasm.

            As Leo groaned and shuddered through his climax, Don slid the notes from his belt and slipped them into a torn spot in the leather of his desk chair. Then he reached up to pet Leo’s hip with that hand, dutifully swallowing all of his brother’s ejaculate.

            Don carefully tucked Leo’s cock back into its protective pouch as his older brother came down from his orgasmic high. Sighing deeply, Leo grasped Don’s upper arms and lifted him to his feet, pulling him into a tight embrace.

            Letting his head fall to Leo’s shoulder, Don gripped the edges of his brother’s shell and concentrated on breathing deeply to settle his nauseous reaction to the onset of nerves. Don had fought Shredder and his Foot clan, Hun and his Purple Dragons, Bishop and the black helicopter squad, not to mention a number of alien species, and he didn’t remember ever being quite so scared in his life. If Leo had found him with those notes . . . .

            Leo touched his fingers to Don’s chin and when the genius lifted his head, Leo kissed him. The kiss was tender but thorough, Leo’s tongue swirling around Don’s as though relishing the taste of himself inside Don’s mouth.

            Don was still quivering a little when Leo released him and stepped back. The concerned expression on Leo’s face made Don’s brow furrow in puzzlement.

            “I would return the favor Donny, but I know that your ass and penis are both sore. Let’s give you a few more hours to recover, shall we?” Leo asked with a gentleness that had Don blinking.

            “Okay,” Don said, slightly bewildered.

            Leo laughed at the look on his face. “I didn’t come in here for sex, but I have to say that was a nice bonus,” Leo said. “I wanted to know the status of your repairs to the van.”

            “The van . . . oh, the van!” Don exclaimed, Leo’s presence having driven all thoughts of it from his head. “I actually meant to talk to you about that. I have a list of the parts that need to be replaced and wondered if you were still up for going to the junkyard tonight.”

            “All four of us?” Leo asked, his eyes narrowing.

            “Well, yes,” Don answered hastily. “I need brake pads and shock absorbers and there are hundreds of wrecked vehicles there. Four can search a lot faster than two. We can take the sliders to within a block of the yard and then proceed on foot.”

            Leo seemed to be thinking about it and then he nodded, smiling at Don while doing so. “All right, that’s probably the best plan. We’ll leave around midnight. I’ll let Raph and Mikey know.”

            Stepping close to Don again, Leo wrapped a hand around the back of his younger brother’s neck and pulled him into another kiss, this one much more possessive than the last. When he broke off, Don found himself struggling for breath.

            “After we find the parts you need and get back home, how about I teach you something new?” Leo asked, his voice low and husky.

            “N . . . new is g . . . good,” Don stammered, watching Leo walk towards the door.

            “I’m glad you think so,” Leo told him before stepping out of the lab.

            Don stood completely still for a moment and then with a full body shudder he collapsed into his chair. He’d be damned if he was going to try anything else at all with pseudo-Leo, new or otherwise. Tonight Don was going to fix this entire situation or die trying.

TBC…………………


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 2,984  
> Rating: NC-17 Contains TCest and non-consensual adult situations  
> Pairing: Leo/Don  
> Summary: The power of leadership goes to Leonardo's head and he acts it out on the one brother who usually obeys him without question.

            One of the things that pseudo-Leo did well was to keep Donatello disoriented. On an intellectual level, Don knew that each of Leo’s actions was purposeful, but he also had to admit that Leo was adept at ensuring that his treatment of Don had its desired effect.

            Leo’s final kiss before he left the lab hadn’t been merely possessive, it had also been erotic. Don was flabbergasted that pseudo-Leo seemed content to kiss him in such an arousing manner and then walk away, allowing his younger brother time to recover.

            That hadn’t been the only thing to puzzle Donatello during the remainder of the day. At noon Leo had come into the lab carrying a plate of sandwiches and a thermos filled with hot coffee. He’d reminded Don that eating was important and that maintaining a regular meal schedule would probably help to stave off Don’s headaches.

            It was a considerate, loving, and thoughtful gesture; so much like something the real Leo would do that for just a moment time seemed to slip sideways. Don had to make a conscious effort to avoid the belief that this was indeed his own brother and that nothing had changed.

            Keeping it firmly rooted in his mind that this Leo was a fake, Don spent time reviewing his plans for the evening. His scheme was not extremely complicated, but it did require perfect timing and a certain amount of subterfuge.

            Don knew he would not have a chance to tell Raph or Mikey what he was planning to do. He would have liked to have their assistance, but pseudo-Leo was maintaining a sharp eye on both of them, something Don noticed the few times he left the lab. Because of that fact, Don couldn’t talk privately to his younger brothers and was going to have to wing it alone.

            If Don was lucky, he could pull off his plan without being caught and if he was really lucky, he’d find his answers in Master Splinter’s room. Don remembered the symbols and the chant for opening the Nexus portal; he could do it on his own if that’s what was required. If the necessary portal was for another location, Don was sure that he could discover whatever Leo had found and duplicate his real brother’s actions.

            Don had already speculated that pseudo-Leo was from another timeline and all of the facts he’d managed to gather supported that theory. From the appearance of Leo’s hidden knapsack, in the timeline he was from he had numerous enemies and apparently no home.

            A further inference could be made that this Leo was fanatically clannish and had quite probably been responsible for instituting a clan war with his enemies. From the things that pseudo-Leo had said and his actions, it was possible that the brothers from his timeline were either dead or had gotten sick of the fighting and abandoned their leader.

            Whatever the real Leo had done must have caused the reversal of positions, leaving Don’s true brother in extremely dangerous and deadly circumstances. Don placed his hopes on the fact the Leo was able to quickly analyze and react to any situation and that he would do whatever it took to stay alive.

            The conversation Don had with pseudo-Leo in the garage was telling as well. It was obvious from the way that Leo channel surfed that he was trying to gather information about his new world. Coupled with the questions he’d asked Don about their enemies, it could only lead Don to the conclusion that pseudo-Leo meant to continue his campaign of warfare.

            Ensuring that his ‘brothers’ were too frightened to question his orders or his authority told Don that this time Leo did not plan to lose his small army. It did not appear that pseudo-Leo had taken into consideration the fact that even he couldn’t snatch them from the hands of death once he’d squarely placed them there.

            That understanding was followed by another; that Donatello was out of time. Even if he’d wanted to balk he couldn’t, too many lives depended on him in this world and in the one where his real brother was trapped.

            Don tried to take a nap after dinner but his agitation made it too difficult to do so. He rather expected Leo to pay him a visit, but his brother was keeping his word about waiting until they got home from their trip to the junkyard. For that Don was extremely grateful.

            When it neared midnight, Don dashed up to the garage and grabbed the old brake pads and shock absorbers he pulled off the van. In two separate cardboard boxes he placed one pad and one shock absorber each as examples of the parts he required. He knew Raph wouldn’t need one.

            Shoving the boxes into his duffel bag, Don went back down to the lair and met his brothers near the entrance into the sewers. From there they walked to where the sewer sliders were hidden.

            Don watched Leo curiously, wondering how he would handle driving a slider that was no doubt a foreign piece of machinery to him. Leo’s hesitation at starting his ride was barely noticeable; he waited long enough to observe how Mikey started his slider and then followed that example.

            This Leo was amazingly adaptable and cunning, most likely a by-product of the life he led. He would never willingly show anyone a weakness, least of all the brothers he was attempting to control.

            Raph had given the genius a strange look when Don bypassed the yard nearest to the lair and proceeded on to one that was not nearly as safe, but Raph had held his tongue. His silence told Don that Raph was taking him at his word and would follow his lead, trusting Don enough to keep his questions to himself.

            They left the sliders a mile from the storm drain that they normally used to gain entrance into the junkyard that Don had chosen. Leo signaled for Mikey to lead the way, though that was something the real Leo usually did. This Leo was much too unfamiliar with the terrain to risk such a slip. He was obviously determined that his ‘brothers’ never realize he was a fake.

            Mikey popped into the junkyard first and the others held back while he checked the vicinity. It wasn’t long before he returned to give them the all clear signal and even then the four brothers avoided the overhead lights in favor of conferring in the shadows.

            Tossing his bag on the ground, Don kneeled next to it and dug out the two boxes. Handing one each to Mikey and Leo, he also gave all three of his brothers slips of paper on which vehicle makes and models had been written.

            “These are the vehicles that are most likely going to have the parts we need,” Don told them. “Sometimes the vehicle will have been stripped of its parts and the parts left inside to make it easier on people who are shopping for them. If you find a vehicle that matches any on your list, check for loose parts and compare them to the ones I’ve given you. I need an exact match and make sure it’s in better condition than our old parts.

            “Bring everything you find back here and then go look for more. I don’t want to have to make another run because a new brake pad turns out to have a hairline fracture in it and it’s unusable. If you don’t find any loose parts, make a note of the position of the vehicle so that if need be, I can strip the parts off myself.

            “There’s a rough sketch of the yard on the back of each paper. I’ve divided the area containing junked cars into four separate grids and labeled each with our initials. Stick to your area until you’ve covered it completely, or until I call to say we’ve got enough parts. Are there any questions?”

            His brothers shook their heads and then Don looked towards Leo. Although the expedition was Don’s, the actual implementation was in the hands of their leader. Waiting for Leo to give them the go ahead was Don’s way of silently acknowledging his understanding of the chain of command.

           Leo favored Don with a slight smile of approval before he spoke. “I needn’t remind each of you to be careful and quiet. Stay within the parameters of your grid unless something unforeseen forces you out of it. I’ll override Donatello on the length of our search if the need arises. Let’s get this done.”

            The four separated and quickly disappeared into the junk piles. Don did not go far, poking around under the hood of a demolished van in order to give Leo time to get further away from him.

            Giving his pseudo-brother ten minutes to become fully immersed in his search, Don took one last look around before bolting from the yard. He bypassed the sliders once he was inside the sewers in case Leo started to wonder where Don was. If Leo checked, he would see that his brother’s ride was exactly where Don had left it. If Don’s luck held, Leo would believe he’d merely missed seeing his brother in the yard.

            As usual, Don’s eidetic memory stood him in great stead. He had scanned through some old archived records of the sewer system and located a short cut that would take him back to the lair fast, even on foot.

            Although the route was shorter, it was also more dangerous. At one point Don had to wade through waist deep water, both murky and foul smelling, while holding his bo and duffel high to keep them from getting wet. Coming out of that meant climbing a steep incline that was mostly mud and muck.

            When he reached the point where his shortcut intersected with one of their normal routes home, Don found that the opening had been sealed shut with thick boards. Kicking through them had earned him a nice long scratch along his calf.

            Don was filthy by the time he reached the lair. He knew he was going to have to come up with some explanation for his appearance when he got back to the junkyard, but that was a problem he’d tackle when he got to it.

            Wasting no time, Don went straight to Master Splinter’s room. There had never been a lock on the door and Don was halfway expecting to encounter one, but Leo seemed sure enough of his control not to have installed a barrier to keep his brothers out. At least not yet.

            Sliding the door closed behind him, Don dropped his duffel and then moved to stand in the center of the room, taking the time to survey it carefully. Everything looked exactly as it had when his father had left, other than the length of the candles that Leo had burned during ‘meditation’. There was even a fine layer of dust over every surface, except for the wooden chest that Don had noticed before.

            That oddity was incongruous enough, but added to that was the fact that the chest was once more in its normal position against the wall in a corner of the room.

            With absolutely no hesitation, Don crossed over to the chest and pulled it away from the wall. Kneeling in front of it, he flicked open its two small metal latches and lifted the lid.

            Gazing inside, Don saw various trinkets and memorabilia scattered in a thick layer. Some things he recognized from his youth; a section of the old blanket Mikey used to call ‘nummy’ and carry everywhere, the first toy soldier Raph had ever owned, an origami shuriken fashioned by Leo as a gift for their father, and Don’s first diary.

            It was an old spiral notebook slightly stained by water that Master Splinter had found and presented to his most intelligent son. That notebook contained clear, unused paper, the first clean paper Don had owned, and was the most beautiful thing Don had ever seen at that point in his life. He’d lost track of it, but his father had found it precious enough to keep forever.

            Tears dotted his eyes and Don hastily wiped them away. There would be time for sentiment later, right now he needed answers.

            Cautiously sifting through the contents, Don realized that he wasn’t touching the bottom of the chest, although his fingers had raked across something that felt like it. Shifting things to one side, Don saw that a thin sheet of plywood had been fitted into the chest in order to create a false bottom.

            Don tried to pry it up with his fingers, but he couldn’t get a good hold on the edge of the wood. Looking back, he spotted his duffel and swiftly retrieved it, extracting from the bag a flathead screwdriver as he made his way back to the chest.

            Before Don worked on the plywood again, he first gently lifted the contents from the top half of the box and set them aside. After that it took only a second to remove the plywood sheet.

            There was only one item in the bottom of the chest and it was wrapped in a heavy piece of red velvet. Don recognized the cloth as one that Master Splinter sometimes used to cover their dining table when they were expecting company.

            With great care, Don reached into the chest and extracted the object. Whatever it was, it weighed little more than the cloth in which it was wrapped.

            Don took a deep breath before gingerly folding the cloth back from the thing that it protected. He was careful to keep the cloth between the object and his hand until he knew exactly what was inside.

            A gasp escaped him when Don beheld the secret that had been hidden in the chest. It was a good sized portion of the crystal globe that had once held Master Yoshi’s spirit.

            The globe had been broken by Karai when she’d attacked the old lair. Leo had recovered this piece for Master Splinter during one of their expeditions into the ruins. Their father usually kept the fragment behind a curtained partition in his nightstand.

            Don knew that his father retained the piece only for sentimental reasons because the memories recorded inside of it by the Utroms had been destroyed. The globe still gave Master Splinter comfort and he would never have placed it inside the chest and so far from his sight.

            The more Don thought about it, the more he realized that the manner in which Master Splinter stored the globe fragment was inconsistent with how he’d kept it in his old rooms. There it had been given a place of honor on a low shelf next to a photo of Master Yoshi. Even broken the globe still represented Master Yoshi’s memory and would have been treated respectfully by Master Splinter in his new home.

            Unless the power infused into the crystal by the Utroms was still a part of the globe. If that were the case, then breaking it might not have dissipated the power, but instead made that power unstable.

            Don’s mind raced as he considered the implications. If the crystal globe had the energy to reach through time to hold Master Yoshi’s spirit in such a way that Master Splinter could interact with him, then the shard might also have the ability to open time.

            If the crystal had somehow opened a gateway into a parallel universe, then the two Leo’s might have somehow traded places via sideways time. It would have required travel in a spatial direction. String theory, as Don understood it, predicted that physical space has ten and eleven dimensions, respectively. These space-like extra dimensions aren’t perceived but are in fact just a small distance from the timeline in which Don and his family lived.

            It was very probable that the real Leo, more upset by Master Splinter’s departure than he let on, had gone into his father’s room in search of answers. Their oldest brother had not shared with them what Master Splinter had said to him before leaving, but if it was what he’d told Don and the others, the explanation wouldn’t have been satisfactory to Leo.

            Although Leo would have, under normal circumstances, never invaded Master Splinter’s privacy, he would certainly do so if he thought his father was in danger. If something about that shard had attracted his attention, Leo would have picked it up to examine it. While handling the fragment, Leo might have opened a conduit into a parallel dimension and triggered something that had caused him to trade places with the pseudo-Leo.

            Don knew that his Leo was very resourceful and would trust that his brothers would try to rescue him. Leo would stay alive no matter what while he waited for them to do so. If Don’s thoughts regarding the crystal were correct, Leo wouldn’t need to wait much longer.

            As Don concentrated on working through his theory, he continued to hold the fragment, making sure that his skin did not come into contact with it. He was about to fold the cloth back over the piece when it began to glow.

            Don stared at the crystal in amazement, mesmerized by its show of energy. After a moment he saw what he thought was movement and then a faint image appeared in the shard.

            Looking more closely, Don realized that he was seeing Leonardo. The real Leonardo. And his brother was staring back at him.

            So engrossed in his discovery, Don didn’t hear the faint sound of the shoji sliding open behind him.

            “Put that down!”

            Don’s heart leapt into his throat as he spun around and saw a seething Leo standing just inside the doorway.

TBC……………


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 3,230  
> Rating: NC-17 Contains TCest and non-consensual adult situations  
> Pairing: Leo/Don  
> Summary: The power of leadership goes to Leonardo's head and he acts it out on the one brother who usually obeys him without question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This preview image is a scene from this chapter, created by the very gifted Nei-Ning.  
> 

            Don had trained for his entire life on how to respond quickly to danger, but it still took him nearly a second to react. When he did, it was with anger.

            “This is how you took my brother’s place, isn’t it?” Don demanded, holding the shard up.

            Fortunately, Leo’s own emotions seemed to be keeping him at bay as well. Rather than responding with physical force, Leo continued to just block the door.

            “ _I’m_ your brother,” Leo said, his tone vicious. “I should have destroyed that thing.”

            “My brother is trapped in your world,” Don snapped. “Whatever hellish nightmare you made of your life he has been forced to live. You had no right to come here and try to take over our family.”

            “Right?” Leo asked, his face twisted by rage. “Your brother’s curiosity dragged him into my world. He wanted to go there.”

            “He did not!” Don exclaimed. “You played a trick on him!”

            “There was no trick,” Leo snarled disdainfully. “I hadn’t been in the remains of our home for months and the only reason I went back at all was because I knew my enemies wouldn’t search for me there. When I saw that piece of Splinter’s globe begin to glow, I thought I might have found a power source or some type of new weapon. It was only after I picked it up that your Leo activated it and reversed our positions.”

            “That was an accident; he had no idea what the globe was capable of,” Don said. “As soon as you saw that this world wasn’t the same as yours, you should have traded places immediately. It would have been the right and honorable thing to do.”

            Leo laughed dangerously. “Don’t talk to me about honor until you’ve spent years fighting to hold onto your clan’s dignity and respect. Don’t act superior until you know the pain of having your brothers abandon you in your hour of need.”

            “Is that what this was all about?” Don asked. “Did you do all of those things to us as an act of vengeance? We aren’t your brothers!”

            “You are now!” Leo shouted. “That globe gave me another chance and I took it. I don’t want vengeance, I want an army. When we were together our enemies trembled and ran. We could have had everything but my brothers didn’t understand that we couldn’t quit; that we had to keep fighting.

            “They weren’t tough enough to go the distance. They had never been properly trained; Splinter didn’t understand that discipline was required to keep them in line. He was as weak and sentimental as your Splinter.”

            “That isn’t weakness, that’s love,” Don tried to explain. “You can’t teach anyone with fear and punishment, but you can with love and understanding.”

            “I offered you love,” Leo said, his tone evening out. Taking a step towards Don, Leo stretched his hand to his brother. “Tell me you didn’t feel that.”

            Don shook his head. “What you did was to torture and manipulate me in a twisted effort at control. Rape isn’t about love or sex; it’s about rage and power. There was no love in any of the things you did to us.”

            Leo’s eyes narrowed. “Sometimes it’s necessary to be harsh and unrelenting. It was for your own good.”

            “Is that what you told your brothers?” Don asked. “Did you explain that your strange unnatural desires were good for them?”

            “Put the globe down, Donny,” Leo said, taking a slow step towards the genius. “We’ll sit down and talk about this like adults. You’ve betrayed me, but I can be reasonable.”

            “Why did you want to brick up this room, Leo? Was it to keep this globe hidden forever? If you’re so afraid that it can somehow return you to a world you never want to see again, why didn’t you just smash it?” Don held his ground, but made sure that the fragment was between them.

            Leo stopped moving, his eyes flicking down to the crystal shard and then back up to Don’s. “It was my insurance,” he answered. “I thought I might grow tired of this timeline someday and want to move on. As long as the shard was where I could find it and no one else could, I’d have a way to leave. But you made me want to stay, Donny. There’s no other place I’d rather be than with you.”

            Don’s laugh was short and derisive. “You can’t go to another timeline as long as the real Leo is alive and holds onto the fragment that’s in your world. That’s why you kept it; you’re hoping that your enemies will kill him and then you won’t have to worry any longer.”

            Leo’s face darkened. “Your Leo is of no concern to me. Alive or dead, he makes no difference anymore.”

            Don lifted the globe towards Leo’s face and was inwardly delighted to see him flinch. “He must make some kind of difference because you’re afraid to touch the fragment again, aren’t you?” Don asked. “If even the tiniest piece of this touches you, you’ll trade places once more, because in your world my Leo is holding his piece of the globe.”

            Leo went still as he stared at Don, his breathing erratic and his eyes blazing. “You don’t need him; you need me,” he said. “I can give you things that Leo would never dream of; I can give you pleasures beyond your wildest imagination.”

            “And if I disobey you, if my foot slips the smallest bit, you’ll discipline me within an inch of my life, right you faker?” Don forgot caution; he was too angry. “Did you drive your own brothers away because of your craziness, or did you kill them?”

            “They left me!” Leo shouted. “We were at war with the Foot clan and their oath forbade they disobey me! They said they were tired of fighting and killing! As long as one member of the Foot clan lives, there can be no peace!”

            “You’re insane,” Don rasped. “There is no place for you here; you have to go back. I want my Leo, not you.”

            Leo’s expression changed abruptly, his face a snarling mask. “I’m going to smash that thing into a million pieces and then teach you never to disobey me again!” Leo screamed, diving at Donatello.

            There was no place for Don to go; he was already nearly against the wall. His only thought was to protect the crystal fragment, which he quickly pushed behind his back. One handed he was no match for this crazed Leo, but he had to try. Losing the crystal meant losing the real Leo.

            Drawing his bo in one swift movement, Don held it before him defensively and watched in horror as Leo lifted his arms towards his swords.

            Leo’s hands never touched the hilts as flashes of red and orange suddenly flew through the air, colliding with Leo even as Don recoiled. Raphael landed on Leo’s carapace, his weight driving his fake brother to the floor and Michelangelo wrapped himself around Leo’s legs.

            Even pinned in such a manner, pseudo-Leo put up a fight. Scrabbling for leverage with one hand, Leo twisted his upper body to try and move the other arm enough to reach his sword. Raph straddled his carapace, desperately attempting to subdue his thrashing brother, and it was all Mikey could do to keep from being shaken loose.

            Don realized that his brothers still believed this Leo to be their brother and were trying not to seriously injure him. Setting the globe carefully inside the wooden chest, Don dropped to the ground and trapped Leo’s arms with his bo, leaning on the staff to prevent Leo from sliding out from under it.

            Looking up, Don met Raph’s eyes. Leo was snarling and cursing under them, the rabid sound both frightening and horrible.

            “He’s not Leo!” Don yelled above the noise.

            “Let me go!” Leo shouted. “That is an order Raphael! Release me or you’ll all pay for this!”

            “What?” Raph’s eyes nearly popped from his head as he processed Don’s words. Then his face turned ugly. “I’ll fucking kill him!”

            Raph’s hands found their way to Leo’s throat and closed around it. Don couldn’t pull them away without releasing his hold on the bo.

            “Raph, stop!” Don pleaded. “No! No, Raph, no! We need him!”

            Leaning forward as far as he could, Don tried desperately to get Raph to look at him. Don could hear Leo choking, sputtering as he tried to draw air past the vice grip that was Raph’s fingers. An angry pulse on Raph’s temples throbbed visibly.

            “He’s not our Leo but he’s the only one who can bring our brother back alive!” Don screamed. “Please Raph, stop!”

            “Raph!” Mikey shouted. “Don’t kill him. Come on Raphie, calm down!”

            Somehow Mikey’s voice cut through Raph’s red rage. Very slowly, the bunched muscles along Raph’s arms loosened and the color began to return to his knuckles, which had grown nearly white from the tightness of his grip.

            Leo wasn’t struggling anymore, his breathing a raspy sound in Master Splinter’s now silent domain.

            Raph didn’t remove his hands from the forest green neck though; his fingers still curved around Leo’s throat, a reminder that the wrong word would have the hot head choking the life out of the body beneath him.

            Eyes still a blaze of gold fury, Raph stared at Don as he tried to process what his brother had just told him. Finally he croaked, “Where’s Leo?”

            “He’s trapped. Trapped in his timeline,” Don answered, nodding towards the fake. “I know they can switch places if both are alive, but I don’t know if it will work if one of them dies. Raph, I know you want to kill him for what he’s done to us, but we can’t. We can’t.”

            Without waiting for an acknowledgement, Don scooted forward enough to place a knee in the center of his staff. He had to move while Leo was still dazed and unable to fight back.

            Twisting to the side for his duffel bag, Don quickly extracted a length of rope. He then expertly wound one end around Leo’s right wrist, knotting it tightly. Lifting the loose end of the rope, Don glanced up to make sure Raph was following him. Raph bared his teeth angrily, but nodded, removing one hand from Leo’s throat so he could take the rope from Don.

            Yanking hard on the rope, Raph pulled Leo’s arm down and back, holding it in place against his own shell. Don got off the bo and moved it aside, clamping down solidly on Leo’s left arm just as his fake brother tried to move it.

            Don forced Leo’s arm back towards Raph, who grabbed it and tied both of Leo’s wrists together. He made no effort to be gentle, obviously unconcerned about breaking Leo’s bones. Pseudo-Leo struggled against Raph’s hold, but made no sound of discomfort, stoically ignoring the pain.

            As soon as Leo’s arms were securely bound behind his back, Don tossed another section of rope to Mikey. The youngest lashed Leo’s ankles together, his expression as grim as Don had ever seen it.

            When Mikey moved away, Raph climbed off of Leo, reaching down to roughly grip Leo’s shoulder so that he could roll him over.

            Leo glared up at them as Don, Raph, and Mikey stood around him, staring at his prone form.

            “I want to kill him,” Raph finally muttered. “I want to jab my sais into his gut and watch him bleed out.”

            “Do it,” Leo sneered.

            Raph’s hands touched the hilts on his weapons, but he didn’t draw them.

            “We want our brother back,” Mikey said, partly in answer and partly to convince himself not to strike out at the fake Leo.

            Leo’s eyes were challenging as his gaze remained locked with Raph’s. “You’re a weak coward,” Leo taunted. “You need me to lead you. If you hesitate like this with your enemies, they’ll destroy you.”

            When Raph growled in response, Don lightly touched his arm. “He’s played enough mind games with us,” Don said. “Don’t let him back into your head. His power over us is gone.”

            “That’s my Donatello,” Leo said in a voice soft as silk. “You always have the answers, don’t you?”

            “I wish I’d had them sooner,” Don told him. “You’re sick and twisted and what you did to us was perverse. No wonder your brothers ran from you. The really sad thing is that you didn’t learn from that experience. You came here and started doing the same things to us that drove your own family away.”

            Leo struggled into a sitting position, his lips still curled back mockingly. “I didn’t do enough,” he said. “Shredder murdered my Splinter because ‘ _Father’_ was too pathetic to fight the way he needed to. Splinter told me he’d rather die with honor than to resort to trickery.

            “I wasn’t going to let my brothers continue to believe in that outdated concept. When I tried to teach them they refused to take me seriously, so I showed them what true discipline really was. They ran away like cowards after the first few lessons. I thought the three of you were better; that you were strong enough to learn, but you’re as craven as they were.”

            “We should have run away from ya’ too,” Raph said gruffly. “We should have kicked your ass for what ya’ did ta us.”

            “You didn’t though, did you Raphie?” Leo mocked. “You liked it. You wanted me to keep tabs on you, you wanted me to ride your back just like I rode your . . . .”

            Raph’s tight fist came out of nowhere, the blow smashing Leo’s head to the side and rocking him backwards. A trickle of blood flowed from a cut on Leo’s lip, but his only response to the blow was to lick at his wound and then smile.

            “No more of this,” Don said. “He’s only stalling and our Leo is running out of time.”

            Ignoring Leo’s smirk, Don turned to retrieve the crystal fragment, careful to use the cloth as a protective shield. When he turned with it in his hand, the mocking smile slid from pseudo-Leo’s face.

            “Suppose you’re wrong, Donny,” Leo said quickly. “Maybe it won’t bring your Leo back, maybe you’ll be without a leader if you do this. Without me you have no discipline and you know you need it; you need someone who can take control. That’s what I do for you and can continue to do. Untie me and let’s end this nonsense. Together we can destroy our enemies and take our rightful place in the sun. Why should we continue to live in sewers when we can live like kings?”

            “We don’t want to live like kings,” Don said, “we want to live like family. If we can’t retrieve Leo then we’ll mourn and learn to go on, but we won’t be keeping you around as a pitiful replacement.”

            Dropping to one knee next to the fake Leo, Don gazed into the fragment, waiting again for a glimpse of his brother. Pseudo-Leo tried to shift away from the globe, but Raph shoved a knee into his shoulder and Mikey planted a foot on his thigh.

            Within seconds Don saw his brother staring at him through the globe. Lifting the shard towards the fake Leo, Don said, “Let’s try my theory.”

            Leo squirmed and tried to throw himself backwards in an attempt to avoid being touched by the crystal, but Raph slammed both of his hands down on Leo’s shoulders.

            “No, no,” Leo pleaded, his panicked expression a far cry from the look of complacency he’d worn earlier. “If you send me back I’ll die!”

            “Just like you planned for our brother,” Mikey said, kicking Leo’s leg with contempt.

            Leo ignored him, his eyes focused completely on Donatello. “Come back with me, Donny. I need you. I’ll give you the physical love that you won’t ever get if you stay here. Don’t you understand?”

            “Sex with you isn’t love,” Don said, “it’s just bad. I’d rather live without it. Step back bro’s.”

            As one, both Mikey and Raph jumped away from Leo just as Don touched his arm with the bare crystal.

            “No!” Leo shrieked.

            A dazzling light burst from the fragment, enveloping Leo completely. Don could feel a strong surge of energy coming from the crystal; the shock of power hit his hand through the cloth like a sharp blast of static electricity.

            With his eyelids nearly shut from the bright glow, Don watched as Leo’s entire form shimmered for a moment and then in an almost blinding flash, he disappeared.

            For the count of ten nothing else happened and Don started to become agitated. The glow didn’t diminish at all and Don grit his teeth as he waited. He heard Mikey’s pained whimper and Raph’s low growl, but ignored them while staring at the spot where pseudo-Leo had just been.

            Then another shot of sharp energy ran through Don’s hand just before the air in front of him started to glisten intensely. In a second it began to take on a shape and then with another brilliant blast of light, Leonardo appeared.

            The energy dissipated as quickly as it had come and the light blinked out. Leo swayed on his feet and then started to fall, but Raph was there before their brother hit the ground.

            Raph lowered Leo slowly while Don shoved the fragment across the floor away from them. Just as Don crawled up next to the pair, Mikey appeared with a small coverlet from Master Splinter’s bed and draped it over their shivering sibling.

            Leo was covered in dirt and grime, his skin pale, and a pattern of cuts and bruises covered it. There was dried blood on his body and the flesh on his feet was raw.

            Raph cradled Leo in his arms as Don ran a practiced eye over their brother, examining him for life threatening wounds or broken bones.

            “Leo, you’re home bro’,” Mikey crooned softly. He was kneeling next to Raph and had a tight hold on one of Leo’s hands.

            “Home,” Leo whispered, his eyes fluttering open. They were bloodshot and feverish, but still as vibrant as their owner. Leo’s eyes focused on Don as he added, “Knew you’d figure it out.”

            Don offered him a smile before looking up at Raph. “We need to get him to the infirmary so I can treat these wounds. There’s something that looks suspiciously like a bullet lodged in the muscle on his arm and it’s starting to fester. He’s also dehydrated and probably half starved.”

            “I’ve got him,” Raph said.

            As Raph lifted his brother, Don ran ahead to set up his medical equipment, shouting over his shoulder, “Mikey, boil some water, a big pot of it. We need to get Leo cleaned off.”

            Mikey jumped forward to catch Don’s shoulder, stopping him momentarily. “Is he gonna die?”

            “We won’t let him,” Don told his brother in his most convincing voice and watched Mikey process the statement.

            “Okay,” Mikey said, turning to race towards the kitchen.

            Don’s eyes followed him until he disappeared, then Don darted towards the infirmary, determined not to make a liar of himself.

TBC…………………

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This comic is another gift for this story created by the imaginative and thoughtful Nei-Ning.  
> 


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 4,398  
> Rating: NC-17 Contains TCest and non-consensual adult situations  
> Pairing: Leo/Don  
> Summary: The power of leadership goes to Leonardo's head and he acts it out on the one brother who usually obeys him without question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~This emotionally charged preview image was created by the wonderfully talented Sherenelle from DeviantArt.  
> 

            Mikey snored lightly, mumbled something, and shifted so that one foot was hanging over the side of the cot he was sleeping on.

            Don heard him and rolled his head on his arms so that he could see that his youngest brother wasn’t about to fall off of the unfamiliar bed. Sure that Mikey had settled again, Don tried to get more comfortable on the chair that he’d pulled up next to where Leo was sleeping. He had his arms on the bed next to Leo’s pillow and he was getting a cramp in his lower back from leaning forward in order to rest near his brother.

            Just as he got semi-comfortable and lowered his head again, Don heard the creak of the infirmary door opening.

            “Ya’ can’t sleep like that,” Raph said in a low voice.

            Don struggled to lift his head, which felt as though it weighed a ton, and looked at his brother through bleary eyes. Raph was standing on the other side of Leo’s cot, arms crossed over his plastron.

            “The next few hours are critical,” Don said, glancing at the intravenous bag that dripped its lifesaving fluids and medication into Leo’s body.

            Don recalled the time directly following their retrieval of the real Leo in something of a fog. After Raph had placed Leo on the infirmary cot, he’d stripped the eldest of his gear while Don administered a sedative. With the number of wounds and the amount of cleaning they required, Don didn’t want Leo moving around or feeling anything that was happening to him.

            Leo had tried to talk to them; to ask about the fake Leo, but Don had shushed him. When the sedative kicked in so quickly, Don was thankful. He didn’t want to deal with explanations at that moment; Don’s emotions were too overwhelmed for him to focus on more than one thing at a time.

            Raph helped Don clean and dress Leo’s wounds, including extracting a small caliber bullet from Leo’s arm. While they played doctor, Mikey washed his oldest brother, gently scrubbing away layers of grime with a soft cloth and warm water.

            There was broken glass in Leo’s feet and this Mikey dealt with as well, using a magnifying glass and tweezers. They knew that Leo’s feet were going to be painful to walk on for a few days, but that didn’t mean Leo wouldn’t try unless they forced him to stay bedridden.

            All three brothers worked mostly in silence; the occasional word dealt only with Leo’s medical treatment. Their shared trauma was too fresh for conversation and they still had an emergency to deal with.

            Once they had done all they could for Leo, Don had hung the IV drip, connecting Leo to a source of hydration and antibiotics. After Leo woke up they would get some food into him, but the moment’s most pressing problem was to make sure Leo’s infections got no worse.

            “I’ll watch him, ya’ need some sleep,” Raph said. When Don opened his mouth to protest, Raph lifted a hand and stopped him. “Use the daybed in your lab; it’s closer than going upstairs. We’ll leave both doors open. If anything happens I’ll yell loud enough ta wake ya’ and I’ll send Mikey too, in case you’re too groggy ta get up. It’ll take ya’ half a second ta get back here.”

            “Did you get any sleep?” Don asked. He didn’t want to leave Leo’s side, but he really needed to stretch out.

            “Yeah, I did,” Raph told him. “I got a couple hours, but lately I’ve been getting more sleep at night than ya’ have.”

            It was the first intimation between them since they had banished pseudo-Leo of what had happened during his stay. Don knew they were both too tired to explore the statement, so he left it alone.

            “I’ve been dozing off and then dragging my eyes open again for the last hour. I’m exhausted,” Don admitted. He struggled to his feet and then stretched. “I changed the bag about twenty-minutes ago, so it won’t need to be changed again for another hour and a half. There’s a fresh bag in the warmer.”

            “Not out of the woods yet, but he’s pretty tough,” Raph said softly, staring down at Leo.

            Don nodded; his eyes on Leo as well. “Our mutation helps with that; we seem to heal quicker than humans. I wish I knew what happened to him.”

            “He’ll tell us himself as soon as he wakes up,” Raph said with assurance. On a more somber note he added, “Ya’ noticed that puncture wound looked like it was made by a sai?”

            “Along with the same tell-tale bruising we get when Mikey pounds us with his nunchucks,” Don said. “I noticed.”

            They were silent for a few minutes, contemplating the wounds on Leo’s body. Neither had to hear the story to guess some of what had happened to him.

            “Weeks,” Raph said, without taking his eyes off Leo. “How did he make it? How did he survive?”

            “Strong minded, strong willed,” Don said.

            “Smart,” Raph added.

            “Determined,” Don said, wanting to add disciplined, but after what they’d just gone through, that word stung too much.

            Finally lifting his eyes, Raph looked across the bed at Don. “It wasn’t a very fulfilling way ta rid ourselves of that fake,” he murmured.

            “I know.” Don met his gaze. “I would have liked to beat him until his outsides looked more like his insides, but there really wasn’t enough time. Don’t worry; he’ll get more than what’s coming to him. Knowing our Leo, he arranged it so the fake can’t leave his world again. He’s alone and he doesn’t have his gear. Without the support of his family, he’ll be miserable and forever on the run until one of his enemies finally catches up to him. That’s worse than what we could have done.”

            “Ya’ could have told us he was a fake,” Raph said.

            Don stared at him, trying to gauge his emotions. Raph didn’t seem angry, just hurt.

            “I’m sorry,” Don said. “Later, when Leo is better, you, Mikey, and I need to talk.”

            “We gonna bond over our shared tragedy?” Raph asked with a hint of a smile. “Would ya’ really have turned him into chopped liver if ya’ got the chance? I thought ya’ were a pacifist.”

            “I’m peaceable, not a pacifist. There’s a big difference.” Don smiled back at Raph, relieved that the big guy seemed open to discussion.

            “Whatever,” Raph waved it away dismissively. “Go ta bed before ya’ get all philosophical and put _me_ ta sleep.”

            Don nodded and with one last glance at Leo, left the room.

            As tired as he was, once Don stretched out on the daybed in his lab, his mind wouldn’t let him fall asleep. There were so many things that still needed to be done and one of them was a comprehensive discussion with Raph and Mikey before Leo was awake enough to start asking questions. The brothers needed to be on the same page about what had happened while Leo was gone; the uppermost was to avoid allowing Leo to feel guilty about any of it.

            When the alarm Don had set went off and woke him, Don jerked upright in surprise. The last thing he remembered was a feeling of frustration that he couldn’t fall asleep.

            The three hours he’d allocated for himself were probably only two, but Don didn’t want to waste any more time. He’d sleep longer and harder once the unfinished business was taken care of.

            Standing quickly, a sudden wave of dizziness hit him and Don swayed slightly. More rest was definitely required, but he pushed that aside and headed into the infirmary.

            Raph looked up at him when Don came through the door, his expression disapproving. “Ya’ didn’t sleep long enough. I told ya’ I had this under control.”

            “I know but I’ve got so much on my mind right now that I can’t stay asleep,” Don said. “Where’s Mikey?”

            “He woke up hungry and went to make some sandwiches,” Raph said. “Leo seems ta be resting easier.”

            Don moved over to his sleeping brother and checked his vital signs. The fever he’d had was diminishing and his color was closer to normal than it had been for hours.

            After changing the bandages on several of Leo’s wounds, Don stepped back with a sigh. “There are a couple of spots that I need to keep an eye on, especially that bullet wound, but I’d say the worst of it has passed.”

            Mikey appeared in time to hear Don’s pronouncement and said, “It’s nice to get some good news for a change. I made soup to go with the sandwiches; if you guys want to eat I’ll watch Leo.”

            Don stopped him before he sat down. “Leo will be okay for a little while; the sedative will keep him out of it for a few more hours. I want to talk to both of you before he wakes.”

            Raph and Mikey exchanged glances and then Raph got up from his chair. “Yeah, we need ta go ahead and get that out of the way.”

            Once they were in the kitchen, Mikey set a plate piled high with sandwiches on the table and ladled out three bowls of steaming vegetable soup. Don’s nervous stomach wasn’t quite ready for deliveries yet, but he knew he had to eat something, so he took in several spoonfuls of soup before the stares from his brothers made him look up.

            “Soup’s good, Mikey, thanks,” Don said with a smile.

            Instead of acknowledging Don’s thank you, Mikey said fretfully, “Raph said you knew he was a fake.”

            Donatello set his spoon down. “I didn’t know until two weeks after he started abusing me. When I realized it, I was afraid of what he’d do if he knew I’d found out. There were so many things going through my head then, but the uppermost was that I couldn’t let him hurt you guys anymore and that I had to find out what had happened to our real brother.”

            “We could have helped if you’d said something,” Raph asserted.

            “Could you?” Don asked. “What I was doing was playing mind chess with a maniac. He’d been studying us ever since he arrived, the slightest change in behavior or nuance in your speech would have tipped him off. It was dangerous enough that I knew, but telling you two would have increased the odds of him catching onto us astronomically.”

            “If I had known that wasn’t our brother, I’d have beaten the truth out of him,” Raph growled.

            “He would never have talked,” Don said. “I think you know that as well as I do; he was too much like our Leo in that regard. Maybe we could have jumped him sooner, but he would have sent us off on a wild goose chase and found a way to escape, probably after smashing the globe. I just couldn’t take that chance with him; I had to let him have time to give things away without meaning to. If the answers I needed weren’t in Master Splinter’s room, fake Leo was the only clue I had left to where our Leo was.”

            “We only arrived in time to hear him yell that he was gonna smash something and then teach you not to disobey,” Mikey said. “Did he tell you why he kept that globe and why he was gonna brick up Master Splinter’s room when getting rid of the globe would have been easier?”

            “That globe was his insurance policy,” Don answered. “He couldn’t bring himself to destroy it because if something went seriously wrong here, he could have used it to escape back to his timeline. I think he knew deep down that our Leo would hold onto the globe; that’s what the fake Leo would have done if their roles had been reversed.

            “He was so paranoid that one of us would find the fragment that he had to keep checking on it, hence Leo’s new habit of meditating in Master Splinter’s room. I wouldn’t be surprised to know that he even gazed into it a few times and saw our Leo, thus confirming that Leo was hanging onto the thing.

            “Once he decided that he liked it here just fine, he figured that bricking up Master Splinter’s room would keep us away from his secret but still give him access to it if it became necessary for him to escape. As long as the crystal globe was here, even behind a brick wall, he could retain his control of its whereabouts. Anywhere else and anyone could have found it or anything could have happened to destroy it.”

            “Ya’ said something about gear earlier,” Raph said. “He had his katanas when we sent him back, so what were ya’ talking about?”

            Don felt his face heat up a little. “He left me alone one of those mornings after I’d spent the night with him, so I took a chance and searched his room. I found a knapsack full of food and survival gear. The condition those things were in told me that the fake Leo spent a lot of time on the run.

            “That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you guys about. I want to remove the other Leo’s things and clean up the bedroom before Leo is ready to leave the infirmary. The monitor and those cameras Leo had me install need to be taken out as well. We can put that stuff in the garage with the rest of my extra electronics so Leo won’t ask any questions about it.”

            “It ain’t just a knapsack up there, is it?” Raph asked, his expression dark.

            There was no point in lying and Don knew it. “No, he had a lot of ‘toys’ too. He must have been truly demented to have used valuable space in his knapsack for that junk.”

            “He probably thought of that stuff as training tools,” Mikey said. “He used them on us; he probably used them on his brothers.”

            Raph made a huffing sound and Mikey asked, “What? Do you doubt that’s how he drove his brothers off or are you trying to pretend he didn’t abuse you? I don’t much like to think about what he did, but even I know it’s not healthy to try and act like it didn’t happen.”

            “Let’s take care of one thing at a time,” Don said, interrupting them. Raph was beginning to take on a belligerent look and Don didn’t want him to fall into a pattern of battling the truth rather than accepting it. “If you two will remove the cameras from our rooms and my lab, I’ll pack up fake Leo’s things in a box and disconnect the monitor and the tell-tale wires.”

            “I want to burn that box,” Raph said.

            “Raph, maybe it would be best if you don’t . . . .” Don began.

            “I don’t want ta look inside of it,” Raph interposed quickly. “I just want ta see it burn. I want ta know we really have destroyed the last of him.”

            “Closure,” Mikey said in a near whisper. “I think I want that too.”

           Don was silent as he thought about it. In his mind he could picture a pyre of flames at the center of which stood that box filled with fake Leo’s dark soul. Somehow the concept brought him a sense of peace and he realized how much better he would feel upon seeing the real thing.

            “I know you haven’t talked to Casey in a long while, Raph, but do you think you can get him to come by and watch Leo while we make a run over to the junk yard? It’s the only place nearby where we can build a large enough fire to burn that stuff without anyone noticing it,” Don said.

            “He’s gonna be full of questions,” Raph warned.

            “Just tell him Leo had a misadventure on the other side of a portal and that he was injured before we managed to retrieve him,” Don said. “Casey doesn’t need to know that a replacement occupied the lair in Leo’s absence.”

            “He sure doesn’t,” Raph agreed, reaching for a sandwich.

            “That brings up another point I’d like to make,” Don said, watching as his brothers began to eat. “Just exactly how much we tell Leo.”

            Mikey swallowed a bite and said thoughtfully, “Yeah, I was wondering about that myself.”

            “Leo doesn’t need ta hear the gory details,” Raph said adamantly. “Ya’ know full well that he’ll blame himself for that shit and go into one of those funks of his. I want Leo back healthy and whole, and that’s means inside of his head too.”

            “I agree, we should not tell Leo that the fake version molested us sexually,” Don said, being forthright with his choice of words. “We can’t tell him outright lies either; for one thing he’ll know and for another it’s too hard to maintain a lie for very long.”

            “So what do we tell him?” Mikey said. “From the marks on his body, it looks like he had a run in with his counterpart’s brothers and they obviously didn’t care for their Leo. He’s gonna figure out that a bad Leo on one side of the crystal is still a bad Leo on the other.”

            Don leaned forward and said, “We tell him part of the truth, that fake Leo was abusive and controlling, that he sometimes used physical violence to force us to do things his way. We admit that he manipulated each of us by threatening to hurt our siblings. I think we should let him know that we didn’t realize for a long time that this Leo wasn’t him and that we believed Master Splinter’s absence had affected his judgment.”

            “Ya’ wanna tell him that we thought he’d flipped out after sensei left?” Raph said.

            “Didn’t you? I know I did,” Don said. “Up until I realized that Leo was a fake, I thought that our brother was mentally unstable. We have to admit that to him otherwise he’ll wonder why we allowed that fake to hurt us without fighting back.”

            “He’s gonna wonder why I didn’t anyway,” Raph muttered. “I always fight with him.”

            “That’s why we _have_ to tell Leo how that faker used our concern for each other against us,” Don stressed again. “He’ll understand that most of all. You tell him that the fake told you that he would take your bad behavior out on Mikey and I. He certainly made it clear to me that you two were vulnerable when I tried to stand up to him.”

            “It’s why you changed tactics, isn’t it Donny?” Mikey murmured softly. “Instead of fighting him, you pretended to give in completely and to like what he was doing to you.”

            Don thought he heard the faintest hint of a question in that last statement and wondered exactly how much Mikey had gleaned from his observations of pseudo-Leo and Don’s interactions. Mikey was extraordinarily perceptive.

            With a sigh, Don said, “I knew I had to keep him close to me, no matter what. I had to keep him away from the two of you long enough for you to get your equilibrium back. He worked hard to divide and conquer us and to destroy our self-confidence.

            “I wanted you to know I wouldn’t let him hurt you anymore and the best way to do that was to give him what he desperately wanted, someone who would do everything he said without question. We have always had complete trust in each other and he was trying hard to tear that apart.”

            “Ya’ made a pretty damn big sacrifice, Donny,” Raph said, staring into his brother’s eyes.

            “We all did, Raph,” Don told him. “I didn’t martyr myself; I just did what we’ve been trained to do. I adapted.”

            They finished their repast then and Raph phoned Casey. Don had just finished checking on Leo and was on his way upstairs when Raph stopped him to say that Casey would arrive at the lair in a little over an hour.

            The three brothers separated and quickly went about setting the lair to rights again. Don cleared the desk in Leo’s room of the things pseudo-Leo had left behind, his lips curling back in pain and disgust as he once more handled certain items.

            After Don was finished with the desk and had removed the monitor, he stripped the bed and remade it with fresh linens. Once Leo’s room was back to normal, he headed downstairs with his sealed box and met Casey as the man came in; taking him to the infirmary so he could sit with Leo. Don made sure that Leo was freshly sedated so that he wouldn’t wake to play twenty questions with their human friend.

            Raph drove Leo’s larger sewer slider for the return trip to the junkyard from the night before and Don rode with him. Don’s slider was still docked in the same location where it had been left and the other two slid in next to it.

            As with the previous evening, they checked to make sure they were alone on the premises and then quickly set about building a small mound of combustible materials, at the center of which was the box filled with pseudo-Leo’s things.

            When they were ready, Don handed a book of matches to Raph, one to Mikey, and kept one for himself. On three sides of the mound, the brothers simultaneously scratched their matches to flame and tossed them into the pile.

            They watched in somber silence as the fire grew to a blaze and the box began to burn. Don felt a weight lift off him as the box and its contents was slowly consumed.

            “It’s a fitting punishment that we sent him back without his gear,” Don murmured. “He’s going to have to completely start over.”

            “I hope he doesn’t live long enough to start over,” Raph said, his gold eyes reflecting the fire’s light.

            “What are we gonna do about that crystal fragment?” Mikey asked. “We can’t destroy it, can we?”

            “No, it belongs to Master Splinter and it holds precious memories for him,” Don said. “We weren’t meant to be toying with it, though I think if he’d realized that it still had power he would have told us not to touch it,” Don said.

            “I think ya’ should lock it back up in that chest so nothing else can escape through it,” Raph said, looking over at Don.

            Nodding in agreement, Don said, “I’ll do that when we get back.”

            After they were sure that the fire had done its job, the brothers headed for home. Casey greeted them with the assurance that Leo hadn’t woken during their absence and also a ton of questions. Raph answered a few of them as he sent Casey on his way, promising to share more once Leo was feeling better.

            Seeing that Raph was checking on Leo, Don went immediately to Master Splinter’s room. The globe fragment lay in the open chest where Don had left it.

            Don started to cover the fragment but his hand froze before he finished pulling the cloth over it. Although his better judgment urged him to wrap the thing and put it away, some inner voice bid his hands to lift the crystal from the chest. Careful not to allow the fragment to touch his skin, Don stared into the shard, something deep inside of him hoping he would catch a glimpse of his banished lover.

            The crystal showed him nothing; no glow to indicate it still contained power and most of all, no sign of the false Leo.

            Hands shaking, Don quickly folded the fragment into the cloth and placed it into the bottom of the chest. Hiding it beneath the false bottom where he’d originally found it, Don replaced all of Master Splinter’s keepsakes and closed the chest.

            Donatello started to shove it back into its corner when an overwhelming sense of loss suddenly hit him. Palms flat on the top of the wooden box, Don leaned down as a tight knot formed in his chest. It became so painful that Don felt as if his heart would simply explode before the pain suddenly moved into his throat and then he yanked the mask from his face as raw tears began to spill from his eyes.

            Unable to breathe, Don sobbed, trembling as a cascade of emotions overcame his ability to process them. Pseudo-Leo’s voice played in his head, telling him they would always be together, that he would take care of Don. A duet of churrs became the background music to those words; the sounds a reminder of shared pleasure and ecstasy.

            Pushing away from the chest, Don stumbled towards the door but collapsed before he reached it. Pressing his hands to his eyes, the genius turtle attempted to force the tears back because each one that fell brought with it a memory, both good and bad. Finally Don pulled his knees up until they touched his plastron and started to rock back and forth.

            In his head he could see Leo stretching his hands out to cup Don’s face lovingly; he could even feel the press of Leo’s lips against his own. There were times when Leo would simply touch him; a gentle hand on his shoulder, fingertips stroking across his own, and strong palms kneading the knots from sore muscles. His thoughts dwelled on those times when their lovemaking had felt real to him, those times when Don wanted the pleasure as much as Leo did.

            “Stop it, stop it, stop, stop,” he murmured as he rocked. The feeling that he had lost something precious was false; Don knew on an intellectual level that he was pseudo-Leo’s victim and not a loving partner. But Donatello was not a machine and what he had experienced at his fake brother’s hands had left an indelible mark on him.

            Don’s mind continued to battle with itself and he remained curled in a ball, trying to hold onto himself before he broke as completely as the shard of crystal he so desperately longed to touch.

TBC………………..


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 4,623  
> Rating: NC-17 Contains TCest and non-consensual adult situations  
> Pairing: Leo/Don  
> Summary: The power of leadership goes to Leonardo's head and he acts it out on the one brother who usually obeys him without question.

            It was the knowledge that either Mikey or Raph would come looking for him if he was gone for too long that finally helped Don collect his scattered emotions. He wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands and stood up, quickly knotting his mask back into place.

            The chest was still where he’d left it but Don couldn’t bear to go near it again, the temptation was far too great. Listening at Master Splinter’s door, Don determined that neither of his brothers was nearby and he swiftly escaped his father’s room.

            Darting across the lair, Don paused at the infirmary door long enough to take a deep breath before stepping inside. As he’d hoped, the lights were off, only a small desk lamp illuminating the interior.

            Mikey looked up from the comic book he was reading, his feet up on Don’s desk. Don made a show of checking on Leo, carefully remaining out of the light so that his youngest brother wouldn’t see the remnants of his breakdown.

            “Leo’s fine dude; he’s been resting peacefully this whole time,” Mikey said softly. “I made Raph go up to bed and you should too; you’re all in, I can tell by the way you’re moving. I’m still pretty fresh from that long nap I took so I can keep an eye on sleeping beauty here.”

            “Are you sure, Mikey?” Don asked, suddenly feeling as if he didn’t want to leave Leo’s side again.

            “I’m sure,” Mikey said, and then added, “Our Leo isn’t him bro’; he isn’t the other guy no matter how much they look alike.”

            Startled, Don stared at Mikey. “I know that,” he said.

            “Do you? Don’t you look at Leo’s face and see it kinda blur sometimes? I didn’t get as close to the fake as you did, but even I get confused. It’ll probably wear off over time, but right now it hits strong when you least expect it. That faker was bad news but if he could actually care for someone, I think maybe he might have cared for you. Tell me you didn’t feel that. Tell me that there is no part of you that misses him and what he was giving you towards the end,” Mikey said.

            “We’re all upset and a little lost,” Don said. “It’s only natural to think . . . .”

            “Raph’s not here Donny,” Mikey interrupted. “I’ll say this once and then leave it alone. I saw how you looked at the other Leo; I saw the expression on your face when he went after Raph in the dojo that day. You were scared he was gonna hurt Raph, but you were also jealous because you thought fake Leo wanted Raph again. I’m just telling you I understand why. I also know you gotta admit how you were beginning to feel about the guy before you can start to get your head on straight.”

            “I’m trying,” Don said in a small voice.

            “While you’re trying, keep reminding yourself that our Leo is not the same person as the one we kicked out. They were twins, Donny, one evil and one good. That’s all,” Mikey said.

            “Twins,” Don repeated.

            “Go up to your room and get some sleep,” Mikey said. “I’ll call you if I need you.”

            “Okay,” Don said. He felt like an automaton as he walked towards the exit, his mind nearly shutting down. Just before he left the room, Don turned and asked, “When did you get to be so smart, Mikey?”

            “I’ve always been smart,” Mikey answered with the flash of a grin. “It’s just hidden by my overwhelming good looks.”

            Don managed to offer him a small smile of his own as a reward for Mikey’s wit and then slowly left the infirmary. For a long moment he just stood and looked at the staircase; the mattress in his room was infinitely softer than the one in his lab, but he simply didn’t have the energy to climb the stairs.

            Lurching into his lab, Don removed his bo staff on his way to the bed, not bothering with the lights or the rest of his gear. Don threw himself face down on the mattress and then his overworked emotions did what his physical exhaustion could not; Don was asleep inside of a minute.

            A soft voice eventually pulled Donatello from his slumber and when he lifted his head to glance at the clock, Don saw he’d been asleep for nearly nine hours. His body felt so relaxed that he let his head fall again, thinking the voice had been part of a dream.

            Don wasn’t sure how he’d managed to sleep so deeply, but he attributed that only partly to exhaustion, the other part he thought might have something to do with Mikey’s uncanny insight into his inner conflict. Even his youngest brother’s hint that he understood what Don was experiencing went a long way in helping the genius deal with the turmoil.

            He was just starting to doze off again when the voice repeated itself, this time much closer.

            “Donny, wake up,” Mikey said, reaching out to touch his brother’s shoulder. “Leo’s awake and he wants to talk to us.”

            With a small groan, Don forced his muscles to respond to commands and he got out of bed. He realized he was staggering when he saw Mikey’s hands come out to offer him a brace, so Don stopped trying to walk until the feeling came back into his legs.

            “When did he wake? Is he okay?” Don asked, tapping first one foot and then the other on the ground to dispel the feeling of pins and needles.

            “Just a few minutes ago and yeah, he seems like himself, just really tired,” Mikey answered.

            “We should make him go back to sleep,” Don said fretfully as he started for the door. “If he’s strong enough to talk then we should get some soup into him and then make him get some more rest. There’s plenty of time for questions later.”

            “He won’t do either of those things until he gets this out of his system bro’,” Mikey said, tagging along behind Don. “You know how he is.”

            Don merely nodded, anxious now to see Leo. Striding into the infirmary, he saw that Raph was already standing next to the cot near Leo’s pillow. The sound of Don and Mikey’s entrance turned Leo’s head and the look of relief on their eldest brother’s face nearly broke Don’s heart.

            “We’re fine, Leo,” Don said, stopping next to the cot on the opposite side from Raph and responding to his brother’s unasked question. “How about you; how do you feel?”

            “Better now that I can see all three of you,” Leo said. “Master Splinter?”

            “He ain’t back yet,” Raph said, emotion making his voice slightly more gruff than normal.

            Leo heard the tone and glanced at him. Whatever he saw on Raph’s face made Leo’s brow furrow.

            “Tell us what happened, Leo,” Don asked quickly, before Leo could start asking questions of his own. “We have a fair idea, but we’d like you to fill in the gaps if you’re up to it.”

            Don felt Mikey step away from them but he kept his eyes on Leo. Before Leo had a chance to say anything, Mikey was back, a bottle of water from the mini fridge in his hands. He inserted a straw and held it so that Leo could take a sip.

            “Can’t start a long story with a dry mouth,” Mikey said.

            Leo swallowed gratefully and said, “I’d forgotten how delicious clean, cool water tasted.”

            “Why’d ya’ have ta go fooling around with Master Splinter’s globe?” Raph demanded without preliminaries. “Ya’ could’ve told us ya’ were gonna search his room ta try and figure out where he went. We would’ve helped ya’ and ya’ wouldn’t have gotten sucked into that thing in the first place.”

            “I couldn’t ask you to invade his privacy like that,” Leo said. “It was bad enough that I was doing it. I’d handled the globe before and it never did anything. All I was doing that day was moving it aside so I could see if there was anything else in father’s nightstand. The fact that my counterpart was also near the fragment on his side of the timeline must have activated its power.”

            “Magnetism,” Don murmured. When his brothers looked at him, he said, “Electrical impulses in the body are unique to each individual. Electricity and magnetics are strongly related. Suppose two bodies share identical nerve impulses? They might become magnetized; drawn to each other.

            “The resultant electricity could reinvigorate a power cell that has gone dormant, like the crystal fragment. It provided an open gateway for both of the Leo’s to pass through when their magnetism became strong enough to pull them towards each other. Rather than colliding though, the pull intensifies at a certain point and effectively acts as a slingshot, shooting the two magnetized forces past one other.”

            “So instead of going back where they started, they keep flying forwards and each of them lands in the other’s place?” Mikey asked.

            “Exactly,” Don said.

            “I don’t care how it happened,” Raph said impatiently, “’cause we already know it did. I wanna know what happened after ya’ got there, Leo. How’d ya’ get so messed up?”

            Leo closed his eyes for a moment and Don noticed how puffy and swollen the skin around them was. His brother needed a lot more rest; it was obvious he hadn’t slept much while in pseudo-Leo’s world.

            “Something happened in that world’s past; something that changed it drastically,” Leo finally said before opening his eyes. “I think it started with the fight between the Foot clan and the Hamato clan; our clan. Somehow that fight escalated into full warfare and the city was drawn into it. People began to take sides and then other factions joined the fight, including those who were only in it to satisfy their greed.

            “The lair was a shambles and most of what I learned came from notes in a partially burnt journal. It was in your handwriting, Donny. I picked through the lair when I first arrived in that timeline and didn’t find much other than that journal, some cans of food, and the crystal fragment.”

            “I’m glad ya’ hung onto that fragment,” Raph told him.

            “I almost didn’t,” Leo said. He tried to adjust his position on the cot and Raph quickly slipped an arm under him, lifting his upper body so that Don could shove another pillow under Leo.

            The line from the intravenous bag bounced against the bedding and Leo asked, “Do I need this anymore?”

            “Yes, you’re dehydrated and covered in wounds that haven’t had proper treatment. We’ll keep the bag there until I’m sure you’re past the chance of infection; one more day at a minimum. Don’t try to remove it sooner or I’ll sedate you,” Don said.

            “Tyrant,” Leo said with a smile, his amber gaze locked on Don’s face.

            A feeling of disorientation swept over Don as he stared into Leo’s eyes; his hands becoming clammy and the skin on his neck and face heating up.

            It was Mikey who came to his rescue, leaning past Don to offer Leo another drink of water. Once his oldest brother’s eyes left him, Don blinked and recovered his equilibrium.

            Raph had eyes for no one but Leo and didn’t notice Don’s discomfiture. “Stop smothering the guy and let him talk,” Raph growled.

            When Mikey moved away, Leo looked up at Raph and said, “I really am all right, Raph.”

            “Yeah, ya’ already told us that,” Raph said. “Ya’ look just like a guy who someone has used as a punching bag, but hey, no problem right? ‘Cause you’re okay.”

            The sarcasm wasn’t lost on Leo. “I didn’t leave on purpose, Raph.”

            With his emotions under control once more, Don decided to intercede. “What did the journal say?”

            A pained looked crossed Leo’s face and for a second, Don thought his brother’s injuries were bothering him before realizing that it was an emotional response. Dread pooled in Don’s stomach; fearful that the journal might have detailed pseudo-Leo’s abuse of his own brothers.

            “Their Master Splinter was killed by Shredder,” Leo said. “It was almost the first entry in the journal; as though the death of their father was a catalyst or precursor for what was to come. The journal said that Master Splinter had agreed to meet with Shredder and would come alone to an appointed place if Shredder swore to do the same. Their father hoped to negotiate a peace between the clans and believed Shredder when the man gave his word to bring no one else with him.”

            “He should have known better,” Mikey said, his face disapproving.

            “Our father would have,” Leo responded, “but apparently theirs didn’t. Don wrote that Master Splinter ordered his sons to remain behind when he left for the meeting, but that Leo was strongly opposed to what their father was doing. He didn’t believe that Shredder would honor the temporary truce and that it was a trick.

            “His brothers held him as long as they could, but Leo slipped away from them and followed Master Splinter. Afraid of what he would do, they gave chase, hoping they could catch Leo before Shredder saw him and thought that Master Splinter had broken his word.

            “They weren’t fast enough. When they finally caught up to Leo, he and Master Splinter were in the midst of an incredible battle against what seemed to be the entirety of the Foot clan. Of course Shredder hadn’t kept his word and had ambushed their sensei.”

            “The other Leo said that Master Splinter told him he would rather die with honor than to resort to trickery,” Don said softly. “What did he mean?”

            “Leo urged Master Splinter to let he and his brothers go to the meeting place ahead of time so they could capture Shredder when he arrived,” Leo answered. “With the master of the Foot clan as their captive, Leo said their enemies could be persuaded to do anything they were told because they would believe the orders had come from Shredder himself. Master Splinter said that such a victory would be hollow and he wanted no part of it.

            “During the fight, the elite guard swept over Master Splinter and pinned him down. Though the brothers had all joined the fight, Leo was the closest and had tried to save their father. Leo suffered a terrible blow to the head and hit the ground near enough to Master Splinter to touch him if he’d been able to move.

            “Leo wasn’t unconscious though, so he witnessed the murder of their father. Shredder cut Master Splinter down right in front of him.”

            When Leo stopped speaking, silence fell over the four brothers like a heavy blanket. With their emotions already so raw, the mental pictures formed from Leo’s words added another weighty burden to already overloaded systems.

            For Don the visual was almost too much and he could feel himself start to shake, bitter empathy for his fake brother pulling at his mental balance. It was a surreptitious movement by his younger brother that shook Donatello from his fugue; Mikey gripped the back of Don’s arm and squeezed it reassuringly.

            “Did it say what happened next?” Mikey asked, breaking the morose spell.

            Leo took a deep breath and expelled it noisily. “Leo’s brothers couldn’t reach Master Splinter, but they managed to pull Leo away from there. He wasn’t completely out of it, though his head was bleeding badly and he had no motor functions. Leo still had his voice and he kept shouting at his brothers to rescue Master Splinter, but it was too late and they knew if they didn’t retreat they’d all end up dead.

            “It took a long time for Leo to fully recover and Don wrote in his journal that while he was bedridden, Leo became very withdrawn. The journal was really heartbreaking to read; all of the brothers suffered from Master Splinter’s loss and the three younger siblings worried over Leo’s brooding. Don noted that Leo’s personality seemed to be changing and expressed a lot of concern over that fact.

            “When Leo was on his feet again, he spent nearly all of his time training and started to push them to do the same. The journal had entire sections that had been burned away, but from what I could piece together, their Leo basically declared all-out war on the Foot and anyone who supported them.”

            “I think I’d do the same thing if someone killed our Master Splinter in such an underhanded, dirty way,” Raph said, folding his arms across his plastron.

            Leo appeared to be contemplating something, his eyes on the ceiling for a moment before he brought them down again. “To be honest, I’m sure I would have been out for Shredder’s head myself. The difference is that I hope I could be more rational than the other Leo was; his idea of vengeance was to go on a killing spree and he was very indiscriminate about his targets. If they were part of the Foot clan, a Purple Dragon, any of the mob bosses with whom Shredder did business, even politicians, Leo killed them.

            “He expected his brothers to do so as well and for a while they were all pretty brutal. Then one evening a contingent of Foot ninjas discovered the lair and Shredder ordered it destroyed. The brothers managed to escape, but they didn’t take much with them. After that they were living on the run.

            “At that point in the journal things seemed to have spiraled out of control. It was hard to make out because of the damage to the book, but the brothers began to disagree about what they were doing. Don in particular wanted them to find another place to call home and to try and rebuild their lives, whether or not they managed to get to Shredder. Leo was adamant that they focus on the fight to the exclusion of everything else and Don wrote that his older brother’s obsession on the subject started to drive a wedge between them all.

            “Mikey, could I have some water?” Leo interrupted his story to ask.

            “Oh yeah, sorry dude. Here,” Mikey brought the bottle close to Leo’s mouth and his brother sipped the clear liquid gratefully.

            Don watched Leo’s body language carefully and didn’t see the tension he would have expected if his brother had read anything in the journal about pseudo-Leo’s method of torturing his siblings into submission. If Don were to write such a journal, he was sure he wouldn’t have left any of that out of it, so he reasoned that the damage to the book had eradicated any such passages.

            “Thanks bro’,” Leo said with a deep sigh.

            “You really should rest, Leo,” Don said worriedly. “That kind of breathing is an indication that you’re suffering from blood loss.”

            “I’ll rest in a bit. I just need to finish telling this,” Leo responded.

            “We understand,” Mikey said. “Go on.”

            “There were big sections missing from the journal, places where it had burned, but it also looked as though someone had ripped some pages out of it. From what I could make out though, their Leo began to turn his violence on them. Don’s words became more and more distressed as he talked about physical punishments that Leo would hand out when he felt they weren’t obeying his orders. I need to know, was he violent with you guys?” Leo asked.

            Raph and Mikey looked at Don, making it obvious that they needed him to answer the question. Don could tell that Leo noticed and was starting to become agitated.

            “Yes he was, to a certain extent,” Don answered as truthfully as he could, keeping to the agreement between the three younger brothers. “He was very subtle at first and we didn’t even realize he wasn’t you for a long time. We thought that you were very upset about Master Splinter leaving the way he did and that you were scared to let us out of your sight. I finally noticed the pattern of scars on his body didn’t match yours, but I was afraid to say anything because I didn’t want him to know I’d figured it out. I thought we had a better chance of tricking him into telling us what happened to you if he didn’t know I was onto him.”

            “He didn’t get mean all at once,” Raph interjected. “He kinda led up to it and I guess none of us knew how ta handle it.”

            Leo nodded slowly. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice soft. “That’s all my fault. If I hadn’t been messing around in Master Splinter’s room . . . .”

            “No!” Mikey exclaimed, cutting him off. “You aren’t gonna go there, Leo. Any one of us could have done the exact same thing. We may be isolated down here, but we don’t live in a cocoon. Sometimes we go off and do things on our own, for better or worse. I don’t wanna worry that if I flush the toilet I might set off a Tsunami in Japan, and you aren’t gonna worry about that either. Whatever that Leo did we were tough enough to handle it, so stop looking for an excuse to feel guilty.”

            All three of his brothers stared in dumbfounded amazement at Mikey, his outburst taking them by surprise. It was Don who found his voice first.

            “He’s right,” Don said, turning from Mikey back to Leo. “Whatever he put us through, we are that much stronger because of it. We figured out what happened and we stood up to him to get you back. We beat him and we’re proud of that, so don’t you get remorseful and take our victory away from us.”

            Leo held up a palm in mock surrender. “Point taken, I give. I wish I could say that Leo’s brothers had been as resourceful as you three. They came to hate him and decided to split from him permanently. Unfortunately, they disagreed on a course of action; Don wanted to find another sanctuary beneath the city and remain there, hidden from the world as they had been before, but Raph and Mikey didn’t believe they could live in total isolation.

            “Don wrote that he warned the other two of how powerful Leo’s retribution would be if he caught up to them, but they seemed to accept the fact that he might kill them unless they killed him first. They parted ways on that note, and Don went back to the old lair to see what he could salvage from his lab before trying to find a place to settle.

            “After that entry there was nothing more. The fact that I found the journal amongst the debris makes me believe something happened to Don. Mind you, I didn’t read this entire thing in one sitting because I wasn’t in the lair long before a Foot patrol came through the area.”

            “So were ya’ on the run the entire time ya’ were there?” Raph asked.

            “I was,” Leo told him. “That world has become an extremely hostile place. Whatever Leo did there; he made himself very unpopular. I spent every waking hour moving from one place to another and fighting for my life. It was difficult to even find a safe spot to catch a few hours of sleep and the basic necessities like clean water and food were hard to come by. At one point I came across Raph and Mikey. It was before I had read that entry in the journal.”

            Leo stopped again, a look of profound sadness on his face. Without conscious thought, Don reached out and took his brother’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

            Once more Leo’s amber eyes found Don’s and in them Don saw gratitude and something more, something deeper. He hoped he wasn’t imagining things.

            Don felt Mikey lightly brush against his side and knew his younger brother was trying to remind him to keep his head on straight. He knew Mikey was attempting to be helpful, but Don wasn’t going to let go of Leo’s hand just yet.

            “They attacked ya’,” Raph said as though stating the obvious. “We saw the marks on your body.”

            “I was running towards them, so excited by the sight of my brothers I got careless,” Leo said with a grim smile. “Neither of them said a word; they pulled their weapons and came for me. I was so stunned that I almost didn’t fight back. I didn’t want to injure them so all I did was defend myself until I found a way to escape.

            “That night was the roughest I went through during the entire time I was there. Not only did they get me pretty good, but I had to double back to that same location in order to retrieve the journal and the crystal fragment. I carried that thing with me everywhere I went because I knew it was my only way home.”

            “You have no idea how happy I was to see your face when I looked into that thing,” Don said.

            “Probably as happy as I was to see yours,” Leo told him. He sighed again. “I can’t believe Master Splinter hasn’t returned.”

            “We’ll do something about finding him once you’re better bro’,” Raph said. “Only this time, we’ll do it together, okay? No more of that lone wolf shit or the next beat down ya’ get is gonna be from me.”

            “If you want us to start searching for sensei sooner than later, you’d better rest now,” Don insisted vehemently. “No more talking.”

            Rather than argue the point, Leo smiled meekly and nodded. Don was a bit bewildered at how easily Leo gave in, but figured Leo thought he’d relayed enough information and had received everything he needed to know in return. That combined with the fact that he really was tired made Leo acquiesce to Don’s orders.

            Releasing Leo’s hand, Don pulled the extra pillow from beneath Leo’s shoulders when Raph lifted their older brother. Don checked a few of Leo’s more serious wounds and then made sure he was settled comfortably as Raph and Mikey left the room.

            “Sleep now, Leo,” Don said. “The next time you’re awake, I want you to eat something before you do anything else, okay?”

            “You’ll get no argument from me,” Leo said with a smile.

            “Good.” Don patted Leo’s shoulder and then rested his hand there for a second before finally sliding it partway down Leo’s bicep in a gentle caress.

            The contact was brief but it saddened Don and he turned swiftly, heading towards the door.

            “Donny,” Leo called just as his brother was about to exit.

            Don stopped and closed his eyes tightly for a second before opening them and turning around, going back to the cot with a worried expression on his face.

            “Did you need something?” Don asked.

            Leo’s eyes were searching his and Don felt as though his brother was trying to explore his soul. “Could you stay for a little longer? I want to talk to you privately.”

            Don’s stomach lurched and his heart skipped a beat before beginning to pound uncomfortably in his chest. He was suddenly as frightened as he’d ever been and didn’t know if it was because he feared what Leo would ask him, or if it was the prospect of being alone with Leonardo.

            Mustering his courage, Don said as calmly as he could, “Sure, Leo.”

TBC…………….


	16. Final

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 4,722  
> Rating: NC-17 Contains TCest and non-consensual adult situations  
> Pairing: Leo/Don  
> Summary: The power of leadership goes to Leonardo's head and he acts it out on the one brother who usually obeys him without question.

            Moving back to his original position near the head of Leo’s cot, Don waited for his brother to speak. He had no idea why Leo wanted to have a private conversation, but Don meant for Leo to give him a lead and to volunteer nothing.

            Leo was studying him and Don returned the look as steadily as he could manage. Don recognized the tactic as one that Leo used as a way to get his brother’s to rush into unnecessary speech; the uncomfortable silence making them feel the need to fill it with words. Raph and Mikey often incriminated themselves when Leo did this, but Don didn’t mind the quiet. He always had something else he could think about while waiting for Leo to speak.

            They could both hear Raph and Mikey yelling across the lair to one another, followed by the unmistakable sounds of pots and pans rattling together in the kitchen. A television commercial blared out its advertisement and the sound was quickly lowered, and then the other sounds faded as well.

            When Leo sighed again, Don knew it was because his brother had concluded that his ploy wouldn’t work.

            Without taking his eyes from Don’s face, Leo asked bluntly, “What aren’t you telling me?”

            Since the question wasn’t altogether unexpected, it didn’t jar Don. “Details, Leo. The only thing we’ve left out is minute details of every interaction we had with the other Leo because you don’t really need to hear that and we’d just as soon forget him now that he’s gone.”

            Leo’s expression remained serious. “You can’t know what I need to hear. The only things I’ve had to think about over the last few weeks were survival, escape, and the possible havoc my counterpart was wreaking. That journal brought me a great deal of concern over what was happening to the three of you. You may think that sparing me those details will assuage my feelings of guilt, but my imagination gave me horrific images. I need to put them to rest by learning that they didn’t happen, or exorcise them by coming to terms with the fact that they did.”

            Fear welled in Don’s chest, its tight grip threatening to cut off the genius turtle’s ability to breathe. “You didn’t tell us everything that was in that journal, did you?” he asked haltingly.

            “I didn’t tell Raph and Mikey everything that was in that journal,” Leo clarified.

            Don’s body felt weighed down, his mouth responding almost in slow motion as he asked, “Is that why you called me back? Do you want to discuss it with me?”

            “What did he do to you, Donny?” Leo countered.

            Suddenly Don wanted to blurt out everything to his older brother, he wanted to admit to the verbal, physical, and sexual abuse that they had all suffered under pseudo-Leo’s time in their world. He wanted to explain the mental manipulation and what he had chosen to do to save Raph and Mikey from any more pain. Don desperately wanted to unburden himself of the guilt he felt at surrendering willingly to the other Leo’s seduction and to even beginning to want and need everything that pseudo-Leo gave him.

            It was Don’s agile mind that stopped him from giving in to that urge. Even as his emotional side grappled with the overwhelming need to relinquish his pain by giving it to Leo, his intellect processed what that new burden might do to his brother.

            Added to that was the fact that Leo hadn’t actually said he knew anything. That realization straightened Don’s spine; he wasn’t going to be caught out so easily by that type of trick.

            “I know it’s difficult for you to abnegate control over our lives, even harder because of the responsibility Master Splinter set on your shoulders, but you need to realize there are things we have to be allowed to handle on our own,” Don said. “Don’t assume that what the other Leo did to his brothers is something he repeated on this side of the timeline. The circumstances that changed him also changed his brothers, so however that Leo behaved with us, our reactions wouldn’t have been the same.”

            Don could tell that Leo was allowing his words to sink in, studying each one for clues to what his younger brother refused to tell him. Although Leo’s face gave nothing away, Don knew that Leo was preparing another salvo.

            “That journal kept me going,” Leo said, his voice low. “Even though I knew it wasn’t you who had written it, the words sounded like you. It was the closest thing to having you with me, though I wouldn’t have wished that on you in a thousand years. That Donatello didn’t just write out his experiences and observations, he wrote about the things he felt.”

            When he paused, Don swallowed the lump that had risen in his throat. “What did he say?”

            The edges of Leo’s lips quivered, but he quickly controlled them. “Donatello didn’t want to abandon Leo. He thought that if they built themselves another home and recreated their lives as it was before Master Splinter’s death, that Leonardo would become himself again. That Don felt as though running away from Leo would push him into viewing his own brothers as enemies, thus Don’s warning to Raph and Mikey about Leo possibly seeking retribution for their disloyalty.

            “Don desperately wanted to remain at Leo’s side, but he was afraid to. He never had any intention of staying away from Leo permanently; he just wanted time to set things up in a way that would hopefully bring Leo back to his senses. It was obvious from the discussions Don had with Mikey and Raph that they were washing their hands of Leo and that they hated him. Donatello didn’t hate Leo; far from it.”

            Tears pricked the corners of Don’s eyes and threatened to spill over. He knew that Leo could easily read the emotions on his face, but Don refused to break down completely.

            “He was really lost, Leo,” Don said in a near whisper. “He didn’t understand why his brothers wouldn’t stick with him in his darkest hour. His confusion alienated them, his need for revenge scared them, and so he tried to hold them by force. He didn’t know what else to do.”

            “Did you get close to him?” Leo asked as his own eyes misted over.

            “As close as anyone could,” Don answered truthfully, taking a deep breath. “He needed someone who would be steadfast even in the face of his rages. I could do that for him. It kept his focus off of Mikey and Raph.”

            “Did he beat you, Donny?” Leo asked softly.

            Don sniffled and then laughed lightly. “It was no worse than what Master Splinter does when he thinks we aren’t focusing.”

            “You’re a terrible liar,” Leo told him.

            “You’ll remember I seconded what Mikey fussed at you about earlier,” Don said.

            “I’m not trying to borrow guilt,” Leo said. “Give me a way to get this out of my mind.”

            “That’s so like you, Leo,” Don said. “You worry things like a dog with a bone.”

            “And you try to find a solution to every problem by throwing yourself in front of it,” Leo said. “You purposely drew his attention to you and did everything you could to hold his focus and his retribution, didn’t you?”

            Leo kept picking away at Don’s defenses, his guesses forcing answers from the younger turtle. Every answer gave Leo another clue as to what he should ask next. It was one of Leo’s greater talents and a good reason for not trying to keep secrets from him.

            “Any of you would have done the same thing,” Don explained.

            “But somehow you knew you had to be the one to do it,” Leo said thoughtfully. “You knew you could do what the others might not have been able to accomplish. You knew that the other Leo needed _you_.”

            Don’s eyes drifted down, away from Leo’s gaze. He could almost feel the heat of his blood as it rushed into his cheeks.

            “When I thought it was you, I wanted him to focus on me not only to keep him away from Mike and Raph, but because I thought the more time I spent with him the more it might help me to know what had happened to your mind,” Don said slowly. “After I knew he was a fake I used the fact that he wanted my acceptance much more than that of either Raph or Mike. He manipulated me by threatening them, but I manipulated him in return.

            “I knew deep inside that he had mistreated his own brothers and I think I knew that he had driven them away. Part of me wanted to help him find his way back to the path of sanity. I wanted to help him understand how he needed to change so that he could find his brothers and make things right with them. I simply couldn’t take the chance because once I let him know that I’d guessed he wasn’t you, my one advantage would be gone.”

            “As soon as Raph and Mikey attacked me, I knew that something had gone grossly wrong in their world,” Leo said. “They were together and I had come into that timeline to find that no one was waiting for me, so I knew that it was my counterpart who was responsible for their alienation. Up until then I’d held out hope that everything there wasn’t lost if the family itself remained strong.”

            “Leo, I can’t even begin to imagine what you must have felt when they came at you,” Don said.

            “Something similar to what you felt when you thought that Leo was me,” Leo responded. “I escaped from them and kept out of their sight after that. You couldn’t avoid my counterpart because you needed him in order to rescue me. What did you have to suffer through just to retrieve me, Donny? What did you have to give him to allay his suspicions? That journal was damaged but enough of some entries survived to make me think he wouldn’t have treated you to the same level of violence he reserved for Mike and Raph. Was there more between you than his trying to beat you into submission?”

            “Isn’t that enough?” Don asked. He felt like he should say something more intelligent in order to lead Leo away from the sensitive topic, but he couldn’t trust his voice at the moment.

            Leo reached out and took Don’s hand, holding it tightly. “I don’t know exactly what happened there, Donny, I don’t. But I think that other Leo loved Donatello; loved him in a way that went beyond the bonds of brotherhood. I also think the Don of that world was torn by his loyalties to all three of his brothers and couldn’t bring himself to respond to Leo the way he might have wanted to. I know it was painful for that Don and he shouldn’t have had to go through any of it. No brother should ask that of another and no brother should tear his family apart the way that other Leo did.”

            “I hated him, but then again I didn’t,” Don admitted. “Does that make sense?”

            “Responding to our needs is what you do,” Leo said firmly. “Your soul is beautifully gentle and caring.”

            “No,” Don said adamantly. “It wasn’t just that. I was selfish too, I wanted his undivided attention.”

            “That was empathy, Donatello,” Leo said. “You began to feel his sorrow and longing. He trapped you in a situation that required you adapt to a belief that you needed the things he was offering to you, even if the price for them was too high.”

            “Just before we sent him back, he pleaded with me to go with him,” Don said in a small voice. “I can’t stop hearing his words. There was even a brief second when I actually thought about going with him. I knew he was going back to a life of loneliness and probable death. Maybe if he can find his Donatello they can figure out a way to repair the damage.”

            Leo didn’t say anything for a long moment and Don’s mind drifted into thoughts of those final days with pseudo-Leo. That other Leo had treated them badly but Don felt as though pseudo-Leo didn’t really know what he was doing. His desperate desire to hold onto what was left of his family after their father’s murder had warped that Leo in many ways.

            Raping them was about rage and control, but it was also the only way Leo could find to remain connected to his siblings. Despite everything that had occurred, Don realized that having that type of intimate closeness with someone felt right, but that it had to be within the context of a loving, safe relationship.

            “I think he already knows exactly where his Donatello is,” Leo murmured, his face contorted by pain and sorrow.

            It took a moment for the words to filter through Don’s thought processes. When it finally did he felt as though someone had poured ice water over his body.

            “He didn’t, he c . . . couldn’t have,” Don choked out, the intensity of Leo’s surmise almost too much for him to accept.

            When Don tried to pull away from Leo, he found his brother’s grip surprisingly strong.

            “Donatello would never have left that journal,” Leo said, “and he was much too smart to be caught by their enemies. I hope I’m wrong. After I read their story I empathized with that Leo too. Now I can only despise him for causing misery to my family. I cherish all of you immensely; my ordeal and the experience with the other Leo’s brothers made me realize how important it is that we all treat each other well and with love. Using fear and bully tactics don’t motivate, they only kill the spirit.”

            “P . . . please tell me he didn’t . . . that he didn’t . . . .” Don couldn’t finish the sentence, his teeth were chattering from shock.

            Leo pulled on Don’s hand, bringing his brother close enough to him so that Leo could put his arm around his younger brother’s shell.

            “I’m sorry,” Leo whispered. “I think you were his second chance, his last grasp at retaining some semblance of sanity. If you could become his Don, then he would never have to accept what he had done.”

            Don burrowed into the crook of Leo’s neck and sobbed, allowing his injured brother to comfort him.

            “I wish this had never happened,” Leo whispered against his head. “He was sick and he needed his Donatello so badly. You are extremely special, Donny. I need for you to know that. I need for you to know that I’m here for you; I always have been and I always will be.”

            Don released a shuddering sigh and pulled back enough to look into Leo’s eyes. “I would never abandon you.”

            Leo smiled. “I know that. I’ve always known it. The entire time I was gone, I thought about you and wondered what you were doing. I knew that you would solve the puzzle and would probably just about kill yourself to bring me back. Holding onto thoughts of you gave me strength and courage.”

            Impetuously, Don leaned forward and kissed Leo’s cheek. He was immediately sorry for the action, flushing brightly and trying to step away from the cot. Leo held onto him though, not allowing him to move. Carefully deliberate, Leo lifted his head and kissed Don’s cheek as well.

            “Thank you, little brother,” Leo whispered in Don’s ear.

            Don nodded, momentarily too overwhelmed to find appropriate words. Leo finally released him and allowed Don to straighten up.

            “You need to rest now,” Don said, seeing how tired their conversation had made Leo. “Do you want me to give you something to help you sleep?”

            “I have a choice?” Leo said with a smile. “I don’t need anything, Donny. I’ll sleep. You were much better for me than any sedative could have been.”

            “Okay,” Don said, reluctantly turning to leave. At the door he switched off the lights and looked over at Leo one more time.

            His brother’s eyes were already closed, but before Don stepped out of the room, Leo told him, “I love you, Donatello.”

            “I love you too, Leonardo,” Don said in a low voice, not even sure if he was loud enough for Leo to hear. The upward curve of Leo’s lips told Don that he had.

            As emotionally draining as the session with Leo had been, Don knew that more repairs were required. Looking around, he saw that Raph and Mikey were side by side on the couch, engrossed in some action movie, a gigantic tub of popcorn propped up between them.

            The scene appeared so normal that for a moment Don wondered if he’d imagined all that had happened to them. Then his slightly clouded vision reminded him that his mask was wet with tears and reality once more held him in its grip.

            Removing the mask as he walked, Don retreated to his lab before his brothers could see the state he was in. He still wasn’t sure how much Leo had surmised about what had transpired between his brothers and pseudo-Leo, although he thought that Leo probably had a good grasp of the situation.

            There was still work to be done. Talking through some of it with Leo had been cathartic, but the residual guilt, fear, pain, and self-loathing still burrowed inside of him and wouldn’t be easily exorcised. He knew that the same held true for Raph and Mikey. Although Don was intelligent enough to recognize the symptoms of their victimization in himself and his brothers, he knew he was ill-equipped to deal with it at the moment.

            Sitting in front of his computer, Don prepared to do what he did best – research.

            Several hours later Don exited his lab, went upstairs, and took a long, hot shower. He was by no means an expert therapist just because he had read everything he could get his hands on about the subject of rape and abuse victims, and about the victims of Stockholm syndrome, but he was the closest thing his small family had to one.

            When he came back downstairs, Don noticed that Raph and Mikey were still on the couch. The remnants of a meal was spread out on the coffee table in front of them and Don guessed that going in search of sustenance was the only time the two of them had separated.

            Don entered the infirmary on silent feet and was happy to see that Leo was sleeping soundly. Sliding up to stand near his brother, Don looked down at Leo’s peacefully resting face. Even after all of the things they had been through in their lives, Leo’s face still had a youthful innocence to it. His counterpart did not have that and Don wanted to kick himself for not noticing such a big difference right away.

            With a last long look, Don left Leo to his much needed sleep and crossed the lair to where his younger brothers sat. It was obvious that their independent spirits had suffered from pseudo-Leo’s abuse and in the lingering fear that still clouded their minds, they sought what solace they could attain from one another.

            Taking a deep breath, Don walked around to where they could see him. Both of them turned reddened eyes in his direction, each of them wearing identical expressions of fatigue.

            “How is the movie?” Don asked.

            Raph merely shrugged but Mikey said, “Mediocre. The acting sucks but some of the special effects are okay.”

            “That means he ain’t really watching it,” Raph said, his voice deep but not animated.

            “Can I steal you away from it? I’d like to have a little meeting in the dojo where there’s no chance of Leo hearing us,” Don said.

            Mikey turned his head to glance at Raph, who narrowed his eyes as he contemplated Don. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of Don’s stomach as he met those golden eyes and read the obstinance in them.

            Before Raph could refuse, thus committing himself to that stance, Mikey looked back over at Don and said, “Yeah, we’ll be there in a second.”

            Don saw the youngest rest a calming hand on Raph’s thigh and nodded at them, turning away to precede his brothers into the darkened dojo. Rather than flicking on the harsh overhead lights, Don moved around the room to light the candles that occupied the stone niches in the walls.

            With the room bathed in a soft, non-threatening glow, Don sat down on a meditation mat and waited. In a few minutes his brothers came in; Mikey talking to Raph in a low tone while the larger turtle kept his lips pressed tightly together.

            Mikey spotted Don first and veered over to join him. For a moment Raph glared at them stubbornly and then he spotted Leo’s katanas lying on a low bench near the box that held his oldest brother’s cleaning kit. Marching over, Raph snatched up the swords and the box before coming back to sit with Don and Mikey.

            Raph didn’t look at either of them as he pulled the swords from their scabbards and then set about cleaning Leo’s weapons. It was obvious they had not been cared for with Leo’s usual precise attention and Raph frowned as he worked.

            “Go ahead and talk, Donny,” Mikey said. “He’s listening.”

            Something that sounded like a low growl issued from deep inside Raph’s throat but he didn’t protest Mikey’s assurances on his behalf. It was clear that Mikey had settled into a kind of caregiver role for his red banded brother.

            “We have ghosts,” Don said quietly. He cleared this throat and continued. “Everywhere we look in the lair we see the lingering shadow of that other Leonardo. It isn’t because our home is tainted by his presence, it’s because he’s locked inside of our heads. Every action he took against us leaves behind a stain that isn’t going to disappear on its own. If we don’t deal with that darkness, we’re going to start seeing him in our Leo, and that isn’t merely unfair, it will destroy our family just as surely as that other family was destroyed.”

            Mikey was staring steadily at Don while the genius turtle talked and he said, “I don’t want to jump every time I round a corner and see my own shadow anymore. What can we do?”

            “I spent some time looking into the psychology of abuse victims,” Don said. “People who had suffered through every type of horrific misdeed. The first step in the road to recovery is to talk about it. Each of us needs to talk about what the fake Leo did to us and we have to do it now before our natural inclination to hide from the truth takes over.”

            “Yeah,” Mikey said. “I think you’re right. I don’t wanna keep it bottled up inside of me.”

            Don was watching Raph from the corner of his eye and noted that Raph was steadfastly focused on caring for Leo’s swords, almost grimly determined to ignore what his brothers were saying.

            “We only have each other, Raph,” Don said, addressing him directly. “Each of us went through the same things at Leo’s hands, so we won’t be making any startling revelations. We have to do this or the anger, hostility, guilt, anxiety, and residual fear will eat us alive and Leo will sense it inside of us once he recovers.”

            “It’s over, the fake Leo’s gone, and I don’t want ta talk about it anymore,” Raph said. “I got no problem burying this, why can’t the both of ya’?”

            Mikey leaned towards him, the movement catching Raph’s eyes. “What happens the first time you get mad at Leo? Is it all gonna come out then? He suffered too and he doesn’t need to have what happened to us become his cross to bear. That monster wasn’t our Leo but he sure as shell looked like him. You’ll blow up and take your anger at the fake Leo out on our real brother.”

            “So the solution is ta waste time doing this? Ain’t we got something more important that needs taking care of? What about Master Splinter?” Raph asked belligerently.

            “We can’t do much about him until we’re whole,” Don said. “Leo needs time to recover and we need some idea of where our father could have gone. I read the notes you wrote, there are certain things in what he said that might help us to find him. While we work on healing ourselves we can pool the bits of knowledge we each have and come up with a logical starting place to begin our search.”

            “Your answer is ta sit around talking psychobabble,” Raph said with a sneer. “While we’re in here singing kumbaya, Master Splinter is off somewhere getting killed for all we know.”

            “What happens when we find him and he sees from our auras just how messed up we are?” Mikey asked. “I don’t want to put that on Leo and I don’t want to put it on Master Splinter either.”

            Don could see that Raph was beginning to get seriously upset and he interrupted. “I think the fake Leo was here at least two weeks before he turned his sights on me,” Don began, speaking softly. “The first inclination that I had that something was off was the harsh way he chided me for being late to practice. It was very unlike him, but at the time I remember thinking it was the stress of trying to maintain a routine in Master Splinter’s absence, and the worry over father’s mysterious journey.”

            As Don continued to speak about his interactions with pseudo-Leo, both of his brothers grew quiet and concentrated. Mikey had begun to tremble as Don talked and Raph’s hands were clenched so tightly around the grips on Leo’s katanas that his knuckles had started to blanch, but neither of them attempted to leave.

          Don plugged on, recounting his story chronologically and avoiding none of the shaming details. Part of his mind was detached, leaping ahead in his tale as he wondered if he should tell his brothers how he had started to enjoy the sexual intercourse and pseudo-Leo’s loving attention. This was the part of his experience that wasn’t shared by Mike and Raph and he wasn’t sure they’d understand.

            Partway through his story he could see that Raph had started to relax and was finally looking at Don, a thin film of unshed tears clouding the brightness of his eyes. Don knew that when he was finished, Mikey would want to share what had happened to him. They wouldn’t push Raph, but Don had a feeling that they wouldn’t have to; he was sure that Raph would open up as well.

            Together they would clean each other’s spiritual wounds just as thoroughly as they helped one another with the physical ones. Leo would heal and they wouldn’t project onto him the dark mantle that the other Leo had worn while he occupied their home.

            As a united family they would learn where Master Splinter had gone and they would defy his wishes by going after him. It wasn’t the first time they had done that and Don knew his father wouldn’t be all that surprised.

            What Don and Leo had shared would remain between them. Leo would help him come to grips with the very real possibility that the other Leo had killed the brother he loved most in the world.

            Although Don’s heart felt heavy at the moment, a thin glimmer of hope was hard at work trying to repair the damage inside of him. His Leo had held him in his arms and told him how much he needed Don. He had whispered that thoughts of Don kept him alive and strong.

            Leonardo had told Donatello that he loved him. That revelation was a very good starting point for their future.

The End


End file.
